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See our selection of portable oxygen at
http://ecom1.sno-ski.net/oxygen.html
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Today's air.
Today's breathable air contains less than 21% oxygen while previous years contained more than 50%. Big city living or being at high altitude
decrease your oxygen intake even more. Your body thrives on three
things; 1) oxygen, 2) water and 3) food. However, oxygen is the catalyst for the
other two. Without the proper levels of
oxygen, your cells become less efficient and slowly turn into sick cells. If you
were
able to consume more oxygen per breath and develop a better breathing technique,
your
cells will reproduce and grow making your body and mind stronger and
healthier.
High altitude and
you.
Approximately 40% that travel to resorts with elevations of
6,000
feet or get symptoms of
altitude sickness or AMS (Acute Mountain
Sickness). Within the
first 3 days, you can experience headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath,
nausea, poor appetite and insomnia. Many who go on
trips to the mountains experience some of these symptoms without knowing what
causes them. Altitude
sickness can look and feel like the "flu". In more severe cases, thinking and judgment may become
impaired and about 1% of these people will develop more serious conditions and
can become fatal.
Things you can do to help prevent altitude sickness.
#1) Gradually
increase in altitude.
Many times this isn't possible
because we drive or fly to the mountains.
#2) Reduce strenuous activities for the first few days.
Give your body a
chance to adjust.
This may be hard to do because
we want to start skiing or snowboarding right away. That's why we're there!
#3) Avoid alcohol, sleeping pills, narcotics and hot tubs.
These decrease
ventilation, intensify hypoxemia and make symptoms worse.
#4) Take a prescription medication.
Diamox has been
shown to speed up the acclimatization process. See your doctor for this.
#5) Take oxygen!
Home oxygen is safe, cheap and easy to
use. Take oxygen at night when symptoms are worse. Take off and on during
the
day as symptoms dictate. Alpine Accessories offers portable oxygen at http://ecom1.sno-ski.net/oxygen.html
.
Once symptoms occur, they may
improve over several days. However, if symptoms do not improve, they may be relieved
with the administration of oxygen or descent to a lower altitude. When in doubt,
see a physician.