Grants to Fund Research on High Altitude Sickness

(Army.mil)

The Department of Defense has awarded two grants to the Altitude Research Center at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver to develop new ways to combat high altitude sickness. The grants, totaling $4 million, are aimed at finding ways to overcome Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) that often strikes service members in Afghanistan.

AMS, according to National Institutes of Health, is brought on by the combination of reduced air pressure and lower oxygen concentration that occur at high altitudes. Symptoms can range from mild to life-threatening, and can affect the nervous system, lungs, muscles, and heart.

One grant for $2.5 million will fund development of a test kit to determine who is likely to get altitude sickness before they are deployed. A second $1.5 million grant will fund research on the basic molecular processes behind acclimatization that could lead to new ways to protect armed forces personnel from high altitude illness.

Robert Roach, director of the Altitude Research Center, has interviewed numerous Special Forces members who went from sea level to 10,000 feet in a matter of days, including some who struggled to carry heavy packs over mountains more than 10,000 feet high. The center has also developed a blood test that nearly always identifies those who will get AMS. With the grant, they plan to create an AMS test kit that can be easily packaged and sold to the military and eventually to the general public.

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