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Doc Talk: an Interview with Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Jack Gervais

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While doing a clinical rotation with Dr. Chris at the Ebert Family Clinic in Frisco, CO I had the pleasure of interviewing local emergency medicine physician, Dr. Jack Gervais.

To start off, if you don’t mind just telling us about yourself, where you work, and how you got into the ED …

Dr. Jack Gervais: I grew up in Summit County and then did my undergrad at the University of Denver, and then medical school at University of Colorado in Denver as well, and then did a three-year residency for emergency medicine in Portland, Maine. Then I came back to Frisco in 2011, so this was my first job out of residency, and I’ve been here ever since. As far as what got me into emergency medicine, it just kind of seemed like a good mix of everything, really, and I like doing procedures but didn’t necessarily want to be a surgeon, and so I kind of gravitated towards that.

What percent of your practice involves tourists?

Dr. Jack Gervais: It depends on the season. Obviously during the higher tourist seasons it goes up, but I would say probably on average maybe 50-60% and then during the heavy winter tourism times it’s probably more like 80%, and fall and spring much less.

Let’s say that there is a visitor in Frisco who brought a pulse oximeter with them. At what point, with either their O2 saturation or their symptoms, would you recommend that they go to the ER or seek oxygen administration?

Dr. Jack Gervais: It really depends primarily on the symptoms. People can be symptomatic with a fairly typical kind of mountain sickness symptoms and have a normal oxygenation. We consider anything above 88-90% acceptable.  We get a lot of patients that come in with an ankle injury and their O2 saturation is 85% and they’re really asymptomatic. 

Certainly, anybody who’s symptomatic we will offer O2 to them even if they have a normal saturation. Anybody around 85-86% if they’re not having symptoms and they’re going home in a day or two, I offer oxygen to them, but I don’t necessarily say “oh you have to be on oxygen ’cause you’re 85%”. Anybody who’s under 80%, I would say absolutely should be on O2 regardless ’cause they’re going to end up getting worse.

Let’s say they’re skiing, they check their oxygen saturation, and it’s 85% but they feel fine. Would you say “keep going and be aware if you develop symptoms”? 

Dr. Jack Gervais: Yeah, I think that’s reasonable. People tend to do worse at night, so someone is 85% when they’re standing in the day, they’re probably in the 80s at night. So, what I’ll often do with people with those kind of borderline sats is offer them oxygen. It’s really easy to get the delivery from the various companies so it’s pretty straightforward, more of a cost issue for some people, but I tell them “use it when you sleep the whole time you’re here”. Probably most tourists would benefit from sleeping on oxygen regardless because you don’t know how low they’re getting at night. I would guess most people are sleeping in the mid 80s and don’t realize it. That leads to the headaches and waking up at night and those sorts of things that we see a lot.

What conditions do you see here at altitude and how commonly, i.e. cases of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema), HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema), sleep problems, blood pressure issues, etc.?

Dr. Jack Gervais: Typical AMS would be shortness of breath, headache, and nausea being the most common. Any combination of those in people who recently traveled from lower elevation or when locals come back from as few as 4 days of vacation can be AMS. People reset really quickly after they descend, we see a lot of people who get reentry HAPE. Kids will go down for spring break in Florida and come back and get HAPE.

It’s tough to say exactly what incidences, I would estimate probably 20-25% at least people visiting from lower elevation — and that’s when it’s just semantics, but it’s elevation, not altitude, and everybody says “altitude sickness”. Altitude is your height above the ground used by pilots. Elevation is how high you are above sea level, but anyway we see that all the time. That’s pretty simple, you know, basically treat the symptoms: something for nausea and actually ibuprofen has been studied in comparison to acetazolamide and is essentially as effective at preventing acute mountain sickness. I tell everyone just put yourself on an NSAID as long as there’s no clear contraindications to it.

I see at least 12 patients a month with HAPE, so it’s something we see really commonly.  This year is kind of weird though ’cause we’re not having as much tourism. We see a lot more when a storm comes in ’cause the pressure drops-so that 10% drop in barometric pressure is like going up another 500 feet, and so that will often kind of push people over the edge. Again, we tend to see a lot of people who get worse at night because they sleep with low O2 saturation or they struggle through the night and come in first thing in the morning saying “I didn’t sleep at all last night, I’ve got this terrible headache, I’ve got this cough”.

HACE is fairly rare here, but not impossible at this elevation. It’s certainly seen more in high trekkers on Everest and in South America. I would say at the hospital we probably have maybe 3-4 cases a year.

Sleep problems are super common, a lot of people wake up feeling short of breath, they’re dehydrated, they get headaches and of course everything else people are doing on vacation exacerbates all that. We actually have this joke of the Summit County Syncope Syndrome: visiting from low elevation, hot tub, alcohol, overexertion, and cannabis. If you have 3/5, there is no way that your syncope is a dangerous cause!

I don’t know why people bring their blood pressure monitors on vacation, but we definitely see a rise in baseline blood pressure at higher elevation. They say, “I have a little headache” (it’s probably from their acute mountain sickness), they check their blood pressure and its 160 and they end up in the ER, which they don’t need to be.

There are actually some folks at the altitude research center in Denver [who] have a little publication about it, but I certainly see a lot of first-time seizures or breakthrough seizures in people who have never had a seizure before. I think it’s just that little bit of change in oxygenation to the brain if you have a seizure predisposition. We see a lot of people that either have their first-time seizure, and there’s nothing else going on, or they’re really well controlled at home, come up and have a breakthrough seizure a couple of days in.

 One other thing about HAPE that’s interesting is people will come in and they’re like, “oh I haven’t slept for the last two nights, I feel terrible, I’ve had a splitting headache,” and I assume they’ve had that for 24-72 hours before they actually come in. Which means they’ve been sitting around with [low oxygen] — most of the HAPE we see is certainly below 80%. I presume these people have been walking around with sats in the 70s for 24-48 hours and it’s amazing that they’re fine. If you were walking around with your O2 saturation in the 70s at sea level, you’d be dead! So, it’s not just a hypoxia that kills people when they have respiratory illness, it’s got to be the hypercarbia and acidosis and all the other stuff that goes along with it.

HAPE tends to also settle in around day 2-3, some people get it quickly but most of the people say I felt fine on day one, I skied yesterday, felt a little crummy night 2, and then day 3 they feel terrible, night 3 can’t sleep and they’ve got HAPE.

 It’s interesting to see the nurses check in a patient with an O2 sat of 50% and it is really no big deal, just put him in any room — it’s not like a big STEMI activation or something. We stick them on oxygen and no one freaks out. People freak out on their first shift if they’re new and it took me a good year to kind of get used to that.  

 Often, we don’t really need to do anything if we can fix them with oxygen and determine from history and physical that there’s nothing else going on. But that gets tricky ’cause you always worry all these people traveling and they’ve got a little bloody cough, they’re tachycardic and hypoxic, so trying to figure out who we want to work up for a PE (pulmonary embolism) is probably our biggest conundrum. A lot of people will get a little bit of a troponin bump just from probably that hypoxic constraint on the heart so that can be a little tricky to figure out who needs to go get a cardiac work up.  

What does a classic HAPE patient look like?

Dr. Jack Gervais: A healthy 26-year-old male who’s got the classic story of progressive increase in shortness of breath, feel like there’s fluid in their lungs, a raspy cough, a little pink sputum, and their sat’s 65% and they get better pretty quickly on oxygen.

What is the typical treatment for HAPE?

Dr. Jack Gervais: The treatment for HAPE patients is to put them on high flow oxygen, around 15 liters.  So, with HAPE, patients get inflammation and acute pulmonary hypertension which causes fluid buildup in the lungs. So, oxygen is really good at reversing that. We oxygenate the lungs which opens up those blood vessels, reduces the pulmonary hypertension, and that fluid can start to resorb in the lungs.

The typical HAPE patient is in the emergency department for 1-3 hours depending on how bad they were and how they’re doing on the high flow oxygen. We wean them down, with a goal of getting them on a nasal cannula with 3-4 liters of O2, which is what the O2 concentrators and portable O2 tanks can manage. And if we can keep someone above 90% on 3-4L they go home with an oxygen prescription. I tell those people to be on oxygen for 24 hours and to just rest and see how it goes, see how you feel. If you start feeling bad again you should be on oxygen. Rarely we see patients come back in because they aren’t doing well, and those people who do, we tell them, “OK you’re out, time to go down to Denver until your plane leaves”.

Are there any medications you use to treat high altitude illnesses?

Dr. Jack Gervais: I don’t tend to use a lot of other medicines. If the oxygen works, why bother adding a bunch of side effects from medications. Some providers tend to be a lot more into giving nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, which does reduce pulmonary hypertension. A lot of them will use dexamethasone, but it doesn’t so much help with the respiratory component it tends to help more with the headache aspect, but the oxygen will often fix that too. Dexamethasone is also the temporizing treatment for HACE, but they need to descend immediately. People will use Acetazolamide (Diamox), but it’s really only effective if you start it 2-3 days before you come up to the higher elevation. Starting it after you’ve already got acute mountain sickness is probably worthless and it’s got some funky side effects that makes anything carbonated taste weird and it’s a diuretic so you’re adding dehydration to someone who’s already a little dehydrated.

I tend to be more of a minimalist, so I treat the symptoms and give oxygen if they need it and pretty much leave it at that. I was just listening to a podcast talking about inhaled vasodilators. Inhaled/nebulized nitroglycerin — it goes directly to the pulmonary vessels as a vasodilator, but you don’t get the systemic vasodilation that you would with nifedipine or oral nitroglycerin. This was talking more for acute exacerbations of chronic pulmonary hypertension among other things, but I have to wonder if that would work for our patients.

I know you mentioned ibuprofen, but are there any other over-the-counter options you might suggest someone try for AMS?

Dr. Jack Gervais: There are a whole bunch of supplements and stuff that claim to help with altitude sickness, they’re just not studied in any real scientific way to know for sure. For me it’s really just treating the symptoms, so I usually use Zofran for the nausea or Phenergan if there’s a contraindication, and then alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen and oxygen if needed. So, nothing else as far as a preventative that I’m aware of. If you kind of get into the naturopathic realm there’s probably a whole bunch of suggestions out there.

Everyone fixates on staying hydrated which is important. You’re losing extra fluid and if you’re used to living in Florida, you’re going to lose A LOT of fluid when you come up to higher elevation because of the dry air. I tell most people to try and double what you would drink at home. Hydration is really most effective with the headache part of it. It doesn’t change whether you’re going to get HAPE or not. 

Oh, and the little oxygen cans you see in the convenience stores … those are garbage! For oxygen to be effective it needs to be on continuously. Even if you puffed on that thing for a minute and could get your O2 saturation up from 85% to 90% it’s going to drop right back down. In the hospital, if you turn the oxygen off, their saturation will be back where it was within minutes, so yeah, those things are just a total waste of money.

What has been your experience with COVID-19? 

Dr. Jack Gervais: Luckily, we have had it much better off than places like New York, LA, and even down in Denver. I think that part of it is that overall, we have a pretty healthy population compared to a lot of the bigger city areas and suburbs. There have been some studies out there suggesting that people living in higher elevations do better with COVID than lower elevations and I don’t know if it’s just ’cause your body and your pulmonary system has adapted in some way that helps you deal with COVID, but we’ve certainly had some perfectly healthy local folks get pretty sick from it. 

When the tourists were gone back in March/April/May it was great because everyone is local and if you had respiratory symptoms it was probably COVID. Now that the tourists are coming back, it’s a lot harder to tell clinically, and the other thing is the x-ray in HAPE and the x-ray in COVID look very much the same.

We had one patient in particular who came in and said, “I got here yesterday, had a positive COVID test 14 days ago,” and of course they thought they were fine to come up to the mountains, and sure enough they were short of breath. The people who are foolishly traveling either with active COVID or on the tail end of it do not adapt very well when they get up to this elevation, but most of them just need some oxygen.

We finally have rapid tests at the hospital, so it makes it much easier to kind of tell people “this is just altitude” or “this is altitude plus COVID” or “this is straight-up COVID”. In the summer when we didn’t have a rapid test, we’d get these people who have the overlapping symptoms that could be either. It’s tough to tell them what they should do as far as self-quarantine and isolation.  Can you travel? Can you go try to ski tomorrow because it was just altitude sickness?  

The treatment for COVID ends up being the same: oxygen if you need it and then actually dexamethasone has shown to be effective for patients with COVID who are requiring oxygen.

Even before COVID we would send patients home on oxygen with pneumonia or URI symptoms fairly routinely, which is really not a thing in other places. If you need oxygen with pneumonia in Portland, ME you’re getting admitted. If I called Dr. Chris and said I’ve got a kid of yours who looks like they’ve got bronchiolitis or a URI or even COVID, their sat’s 85% — the answer is almost always going to be “oh, put them on oxygen and if they are OK on a reasonable amount of oxygen they’re probably OK to go home”.

Do you admit COVID patients to the hospital up here if needed?

Dr. Jack Gervais: It’s been really tricky for us to figure out who we can reasonably admit here versus transfer to Denver. Both need to have a higher level of care and be at lower elevation. We have kept COIVID patients here successfully. The thing is, even if you live up here and are used to the altitude you’ve got a respiratory process and you’re hypoxic as a result, it makes sense that you would probably do better down in Denver and probably have less of an oxygen requirement and hopefully not progress to high flow oxygen. You can get someone on high flow here but then they’re stuck here until they get better or they get intubated to be transferred.

What is the most memorable case that you have seen in the ER related to high altitude?

Dr. Jack Gervais: So, I had a professional snowboarder who had gone back to sea level for the summer and then flew back out here and had a shoulder surgery in Vail and was staying in Summit County. He was a day or two post-op and had probably been back in the mountains for three or four days so kind of fit the time frame to develop altitude sickness, and he’s probably on a muscle relaxant, some opiates, some respiratory depressants. So, this is the very end of the night shift, I had a STEMI going on in the other room and this guy comes in at 84-85%. He didn’t look super sick but needed some oxygen. I’m like, “oh, he probably took too much oxycodone,” and so I throw him on some oxygen while I go back and deal with this STEMI.

 I go back, and he wasn’t any better! He was still at like 86% on high flow oxygen. So, we got a chest x-ray and he had a little bit of fluid here and there, so it looks like probably early HAPE, or potentially pneumonia, but fit with more of an altitude issue exacerbated by his post-op care.  So, we put him on Bipap and he’s not getting any better and now he’s low 80s on Bipap, so we intubate him.

Now he’s getting worse and now he’s dropping his blood pressure. This is over probably an hour, so this guy is sick, and we could not get him oxygenated even on max vent support. We were begging him, and I thought he was going to just die right in front of me. Finally, he dropped his blood pressure more and we’re like “well, maybe he’s septic, maybe he aspirated, and this is pneumonia.” So, we give him norepinephrine, which is a vasopressor, it constricts all the blood vessels to help increase the blood pressure and adds ionotropic support to make the heartbeat stronger. Then his blood pressure finally got better, and his oxygen got better, and he went down to the ICU in Denver and I’m like, “thank God I didn’t kill this guy at the end of a 13 hour night shift”.

So, it turns out — and this is what makes it the most interesting — he had a PFO, patent foramen ovale — so, a hole in his heart. It’s very common, but people tend to not notice because in general, the pressure in the left side of your heart outweighs the pressure in your right significantly so that patent foramen ovale stays closed against the septum.

Like I was saying earlier, HAPE is caused by acute pulmonary hypertension which then raises the pressures on the right side of your heart. So, he blew open his PFO and now had a right to left shunt — so blood from the right side of the heart doesn’t go up through the lungs and oxygenate, it goes straight to the left and goes back out into the body unoxygenated. That’s why everything we did made him worse. When you put someone on Bipap, and especially when you intubate them, you’ve got that positive pressure that increases the intrathoracic pressure, which increases the preload on the heart.

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: 30% of the population may have PFO!

Dr. Jack Gervais: Coincidentally, the norepinephrine that I put him on trying to treat as sepsis increased the after load — the arterial resistance, which then increased the pressure on the left side of the heart enough that it was able to squeeze his PFO back down.

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: The ironic thing is that it’s so random! All of this altitude stuff is SO random, even people who have had AMS or HAPE or whatever they may never get again. I mean 90% probably never have a recurrence.

Dr. Jack Gervais: Yeah people get really frustrated and say “I’ve been here 10 times before, it can’t be altitude sickness” — that can happen, and it does. People have this myth of like, “I used to live here, I’m fine,” and it’s absolutely false.

Another interesting thing you see at altitude is people with sickle cell trait (so not full-blown sickle cell disease, generally thought to be a harmless and completely asymptomatic condition) will get splenic infarcts when they come up. You almost can’t even find reports of it in the literature, but I probably see 8 or 10 a year. It’s kind of easy to pin down, the person is like, “I just got here, I’ve got this left upper quadrant pain, no trauma” — not much in your left upper quadrant, so most of the time the minute they hit triage you know what’s going on. We treat just like you would any sickle cell crisis: fluids, pain medicine, oxygen.

I know you mentioned the myth about people who have lived here before believing they aren’t able to get mountain sickness, but do you have any other myths that you frequently have to clarify?

Dr. Jack Gervais: The big one we run into is people who are taking acetazolamide wrong and are surprised that they’re having altitude sickness. People start getting symptoms and they call their doctor and they may prescribe it too late and I just tell them, “don’t bother”. 

People who think they’ve got an infection or bronchitis so their doctor back home calls in antibiotics, which they don’t need even if it is bronchitis. Or the people who ignore it for 2-4 days to assume it’s the bronchitis and say “the antibiotics aren’t working, doctor what’s wrong?” Well, your lungs are filling up with fluid! The good news is HAPE tends to be gradually progressive over hours to days, not minutes. Very rarely we see patients who are really actively dying from HAPE. In 10 years I have probably seen hundreds if not 1,000 HAPE patients and I’ve only probably had 2-3 who were really, really hard to fix. Probably 10-20 that I’ve had to put on Bipap and transfer down. I think I’ve maybe only intubated 1-2. People get in trouble if they’re up high — 20,000 feet on Mount Everest, don’t have oxygen, that’s where you’d end up dying with HAPE. 

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: And how many die at home?

Dr. Jack Gervais: I would say a handful. I’ve had at least one lady who was camping. Had HAPE-like symptoms and came in dying, she was the one I intubated, and she actually lived. I had a guy camping last summer who sounded like (from what his mom described) altitude-related symptoms, although he was just up from the Front Range. I don’t know what they ever found on him, but he was dead when the paramedics got to him. I would say it’s a handful, but not dozens a year.

Thank you for your time Dr. Gervais. Is there anything more you would like to share about high altitude medicine?

Dr. Jack Gervais: I would say probably anybody with any serious cardiac or pulmonary comorbidities who is going to vacation here should really be on oxygen at least at night. That would prevent a huge number of these problems. I actually see a lot of people (locals) who sleep on oxygen at night even if they’re 40 and healthy and don’t really have any issues and they just sleep much better.

And the other thing is you know, especially the people who have lived up in Leadville for 60 years tend to develop a gradually progressive chronic pulmonary hypertension which adds to blood pressure management issues and so that’s an issue we definitely see. So I tell anybody who has any sort of symptoms and is going to be here for a while, “just buy yourself a (oxygen) concentrator, keep it at your house,” that way when they come up for a week vacation every winter they’ve got it and just sleep with O2 every night and avoid all the hassle. And don’t bring your blood pressure cuff on vacation!!

There’s a cardiologist who works over in Vail, he was really convinced that living at altitude is really bad for your chronic blood pressure issues.

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: Our interview with three other high-altitude physicians in primary care and cardiology say their standard is “if you’re 50 and you’ve lived here 10 years and you want to live here for another 10 years you should be sleeping on oxygen.”

Rachel Mader is a second-year physician assistant student at Red Rocks Community College. She was born and raised in Colorado Springs and attended Colorado State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s in biology. Before starting PA school, Rachel worked as a Physical Therapy Aide at CSU Health and Medical Center, a CNA at a nursing home, and a Clinical Assistant at Children’s Hospital in Colorado Springs. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and pets, and eating at new restaurants.

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The Plants We Need Are There: A Naturopathic Approach to Acute Mountain Sickness

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Acetazolamide is already known for its success with treating Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and helping patients with their transition to higher altitudes, but what other options are available? What about those who don’t want a prescription, that are looking for other alternatives to help them with AMS and being at high altitude?

During my time in Frisco, Colorado (9000’/2743 m) I was fortunate enough to interview two resident Naturopathic Doctors. Mountain River Naturopathic Clinic on Main Street of this little mountain town is a wonderful oasis for anyone in Colorado’s Summit County looking for alternative care and treatment for their mind and body.

Dr. Kimberly Nearpass, ND and Dr. Justin Pollack, ND took the time to educate Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos, my classmate Rachel Mader, and myself about all the naturopathic remedies available for AMS and residents at altitude.

Tell us about Naturopathic medicine and why you picked this path of medicine?

Dr. Kimberly Nearpass: I thought I was going to be an OBGYN and then I did more research. I talked to doctors, midwives and herbalists and found that the Western medicine model didn’t feel right to me. So I thought, “Do I go to medical school and try to operate functionally from the inside or do I find another track?” I did not know about naturopathic medicine until a few years later. I took some time off; I traveled and went to the Peace Corps and then I discovered naturopathic medicine and loved it. I had lived in Ecuador in the rainforest as a naturalist guide so I learned a lot about traditional medicine that way. I learned a lot about traditional medicine when I lived in rural Africa as well. Living in these rural areas and watching the indigenous people — and they certainly use modern medicine — but they did not have a lot of access. Especially in the rainforest, they were using a lot of plants and I was fascinated by that. But I still wanted the medical training. Then I discovered naturopathic school. So, it’s four years of medical school, we get the medical training, but we also have that more holistic, natural, herbal based approach.

What naturopathic remedies are available for acute mountain sickness (AMS)?

Dr. Nearpass: So I will tell you Acli-Mate is our go-to. I’m not tied to this product, a friend of mine, it is her company, she is a naturopathic doctor in Gunnison. She formulated this, she started it out as a high-altitude electrolyte drink. Everybody that comes in our door, we start with this. This stuff works AMAZING. We rarely have to go anywhere else. I think the combination of the electrolytes and that it is hydrating has a great benefit. It helps with the headache and the nausea. For mild to moderate symptoms of AMS it is incredible. What we do is if we have family coming to visit from sea level is we have them start drinking it before they come.

Acli-Mate is found to be highly effective at helping people who are suffering from AMS. The blend includes herbs Ginkgo biloba and Rhodiola, both of which have proven effective in preventing and treating altitude related sickness. Both herbs seem to improve circulation, especially through cerebral vessels, and cellular energy function through improved uptake and utilization of oxygen, reducing toxic brain edema. Ginkgo has also been shown to inhibit platelet clumping, keeping red blood cells evenly dispersed, which improves delivery of oxygen to tissues, while Rhodiola appears to help the body deal with stress.

Nutrients in Acli-Mate: Vitamin C, and many of the B vitamins: thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothene (B5) and cobolamin (B12).

Acli-Mate in a variety of applications.

Have you noticed that when you have patients drink it before they arrive at high altitude, they have a better outcome?

Dr. Nearpass: Yes. And I have a patient who is 70 now and 5-10 years ago she went with some girlfriend to hike Mount Kilimanjaro. She had all her girlfriends take it and emailed me after saying, “We all did great!” And I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket but this is almost always all we need.

Dr. Justin Pollack: There is something about that blend of Rhodiola, Ginkgo and the B vitamins that seems to work. We’ve had tons of people use it clinically.

Dr. Nearpass: For other options, I think Rhodiola is a good one. It’s interesting to me because Rhodiola grows in Mongolia, it grows in high altitude. One of the things we talk about in herbal medicine is often the plants we need are there. For example, dandelion root grows everywhere and it is good for liver detox and helps with hepatic function. So, it is interesting to me that dandelion is popping up on the side of the highways and in areas that we could probably use a little cleansing and detoxing.

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: What about Coca?

Dr. Nearpass: Oh yes! Coca works amazing. It is a plant that grows in the high altitudes of South America and when I was living in Ecuador the folks that live in the Andes drink coca tea all the time. They also take coca leaves and shove a wad in their mouth like chew. While they are doing work, cardiovascular work, they just put it in their mouth and that is their medicine. It gives them more stamina and reduces fatigue. There is not much research on it because you cannot even get it in the states.

Is there a reason you can’t get it here?

Dr. Nearpass: Because it’s the same plant as cocaine. We used to have a homeopathic version of it. Do you know what homeopathic medicine is? You take a remedy and you dilute it until you don’t have any molecules of the original substance but you basically are getting an energetic imprint. For example, Rhus tox, poison ivy, the homeopathic rhus tox is used to treat red itchy inflamed poison ivy type symptoms. But with coca, even homeopathically, the herb is used in concentrated doses to treat high altitude sickness and increase energy and stamina. But because there is such a control over coca, we can’t even get the homeopathic version, which is ridiculous because there is not a single molecule of the plant in the remedy.

Dr. Pollack: When Kim and I were on our honeymoon, we passed through Bolivia and Peru. In Bolivia in la Paz there was a coca museum. It was really fascinating because something around 1,000lbs of coca leaves must be distilled down into 1 gram to make cocaine. When you make tea out of the raw leaves it seems to have the subtle effect of suppressing appetite and allowing people to do better at altitude. Marijuana has a whole stigma around it, even though it has been legalized, and so the research and researchers are stigmatized, yet there are a lot of useful compound coming out of the plant. So, I’m sure that coca is the same, and hopefully somewhere down the line we will be able to use coca leaf for altitude.

Dr. Nearpass: And certainly, coca is the number one herb in the Andes that people use. You can get it everywhere, it’s like black tea down there.

So because coca is not available for your patients, and if you found Acli-Mate was not successful, what would you recommend?

Dr. Nearpass, a woman in a white hoodie, long brunette hair, and a maroon mask, stands in front of a wall of shelves of naturopathic medicine in brown glass jars with black lids at the Backcountry Apothecary in Frisco, CO.
Dr. Kimberly Nearpass

Dr. Nearpass: This is the thing about naturopathic doctors, we look at each individual. If it’s a resident, per se, we are going to draw blood work. We are going to try to figure out what’s going on, what is the underlying issue. Do you have relative anemia? We will run iron but also ferritin. They may have normal blood cells, normal H&H but their ferritin is a 2. One of the things that is tricky about being a naturopathic doctor is, we will be at a party and someone will ask, “Well what do you do for hypertension?” or “What do you do for digestive issues?” We always say we don’t treat symptoms; we don’t treat disease, we treat people. If someone is having recurrent altitude sickness, we are going to look at the individual and look at what is going on. What’s their diet? Are they hydrated enough? Are they drinking too much alcohol? Do they have subclinical hypothyroidism that might affect their metabolism and their ability to adapt when they get here? Might their ferritin levels be really low? And then we would sit down with the patient and say, “Well what are your symptoms? Is nausea the main symptom? Is headache the main symptom?”  And then, what other factors could be contributing to these symptoms? If it’s headache then CoQ10 would be what I would go to.

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: And what do you look for on physical exams on residents that are having trouble with altitude?

Dr. Nearpass: On physical exams we are doing the standard physical that you would do but we are also looking at the tongue. I am not a Chinese Medicine doctor but the tongue does give you some insight on what is going on in the digestive tract. If we are seeing inflammation or glossitis or geographic tongue, we are thinking, “Oh, this person may have some underlying digestive issue.” We might look at Arroyo’s sign, it’s a traditional sign when you shine a light on someone’s pupil and most of the time their pupil will constrict, but Arroyo’s sign is both pupils will stay dilated. This is a red light for adrenal issues, for hyper cortisol output or adrenaline output. If someone is in a chronically stressed state, their pupils are going to be dilated all the time. If it looks like someone has chronic stress, it takes you out of the parasympathetic, and so their digestion is going to be weaker. The way we look at it is the body has to prioritize, and there is only so much that one body can do. And I suspect that living at high altitude puts chronic stress on the body. I see this huge lack of libido in the women. I see women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. But it kind of makes sense right? If the body is chronically stressed, having a baby is a huge energy output for a woman. So, I think we may see the chronic stress impacts of living at high altitude.

Dr. Chris Ebert-Santos: So what do you do for the libido?

Dr. Nearpass: That is one that if I could invent one pill, it would be that one. Libido is really hard, especially in women. Unfortunately, what I see is its one of the first things to go in women and it’s one of the last things to respond. So, my suspicion is that this altitude is another physical stress on our bodies. I think we can see multiple systems being affected by it, maybe not severely but still.

Rachel Mader PA-S: Is there anything for sleep at altitude? I know a lot of people struggle with that.

Dr. Nearpass: Yes, again for us there is no magic bullet. Melatonin is very well known and that can be very helpful for some people, but it sure doesn’t work for everybody.  When patients come in and say, “What do you use for sleep?” I want to take every person back and have a conversation with them. Ask, “Are you having a hard time falling asleep? Are you having a hard time staying asleep? Are you waking up to go to the bathroom?” Right? So, there isn’t a magic bullet that will work for everyone. Breaking it down, I think you could have 50 people with altitude sickness and we’re going to do 50 different things. I mean, I would start with Acli-Mate, but every patient will be different.

Do you think there’s benefit to adding Acli-Mate in combination with an Acetazolamide prescription?

Dr. Nearpass: As far as I know, there’s no issue combining the two. Most people that come to us are usually trying to avoid medication, but what I always say to them in that situation is, “Try this other stuff to see if it helps.” But if it’s someone who had trouble in the past with AMS, I’ll say go to your medical doctor and get the prescription so that you have it if you need it. I think another issue is that people fly here right from Texas. They fly to Denver, they get right on the shuttle, and they drive right up here. If they’ve had trouble in the past, they should drive here and take their time. Spend a couple days in Denver if they have to. That does seem to help people.

Thank you so much Dr. Nearpass. Is there anything else about naturopathic medicine and high altitude you would like to share with us?

Dr. Nearpass: I guess I would say again that from a naturopathic perspective it is really about looking at the individual.

Is there anything that could specifically help with nausea symptoms of AMS?

Dr. Nearpass: Ipecacuanha! Ipecac syrup — which in full doses will make you throw up, so the homeopathic Ipecacuanha we use for nausea — that is one I have actually used quite a bit for people who have that aspect of AMS. It is really good for nausea and pregnancy too.

PA student Hannah Addison with Dr. Pollock, Dr. Nearpass and Dr. Chris in front of the Naturopathic clinic and apothecary in Frisco, CO.

The way I see Healthcare is a full spectrum, and on one end you have the brain surgeons and on the other end you have the Reiki energy healers. Then you have everything in between. I see us sitting in the middle. For patients, the best thing is to be aware of where they belong on that spectrum. I’m not going to replace a brain surgeon, but sometimes a little bit of massage and energy can do the trick. It is so great for us as practitioners to be able to talk and converse with the medical doctors. We’ve been really lucky in this community.

Visit Mountain River Naturopathic Clinic’s website or stop by their shop and clinic: http://www.mountainriverclinic.com

Available research articles on Naturopathic Remedies and AMS:

Zhang DX, Zhang YK, Nie HJ, Zhang RJ, Cui JH, Cheng Y, Wang YH, Xiao ZH, Liu JY, Wang H. [Protective effects of new compound codonopsis tablets against acute mountain sickness]. Zhongguo Ying Yong Sheng Li Xue Za Zhi. 2010 May;26(2):148-52. Chinese. PMID: 20684264.

Tsai TY, Wang SH, Lee YK, Su YC. Ginkgo biloba extract for prevention of acute mountain sickness: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. BMJ Open. 2018;8(8):e022005. Published 2018 Aug 17. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022005

Gertsch JH, Basnyat B, Johnson EW, Onopa J, Holck PS. Randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled comparison of ginkgo biloba and acetazolamide for prevention of acute mountain sickness among Himalayan trekkers: the prevention of high-altitude illness trial (PHAIT). BMJ. 2004;328(7443):797. doi:10.1136/bmj.38043.501690.7C

Ke T, Wang J, Swenson ER, et al. Effect of acetazolamide and gingko biloba on the human pulmonary vascular response to an acute altitude ascent. High Alt Med Biol. 2013;14(2):162-167. doi:10.1089/ham.2012.1099

Wang J, Xiong X, Xing Y, et al. Chinese herbal medicine for acute mountain sickness: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:732562. doi:10.1155/2013/732562

Lee SY, Li MH, Shi LS, Chu H, Ho CW, Chang TC. Rhodiola crenulata Extract Alleviates Hypoxic Pulmonary Edema in Rats. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:718739. doi:10.1155/2013/718739

Hannah Addison, PA-S

Hannah Addison (she, her, hers) is a second-year physician assistant student at Red Rocks Community College Physician Assistant Program in Arvada Colorado. Hannah was born and raised in the South Denver area of Colorado. She spent four years getting her bachelor’s in biomedical science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO where she decided her life career goal was to become a PA. After graduating and while applying for PA programs, Hannah worked at Littleton Adventist Hospital of Centura as a CNA, Telemetry Technician and Unit Clerk. In her free time, Hannah enjoys hiking and discovering all the delicious food and drink Colorado has to offer.

COVID-19, Doc Talk, Health, Medicine, Mental Health, Pandemic

COVID in the Mountains: What Works?

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As the nation experiences its second, and by far more significant, increase in COVID-19 cases, visitors continue to flock to the Colorado Rocky Mountain region, while advisories from the CDC and government officials across the world continue urging people to stay isolated and home for the holidays. Unlike the Northern Mariana Islands or New Zealand, where physical distancing, the use of masks, travel bans and mandatory quarantines have allowed these island nations to maintain zero community spread, Colorado remains open to the potentially millions of travelers it sees every Winter season, and with far fewer mandates to control infection.

Although the beginning of the pandemic saw facilities managing to protect their staff with protective equipment and protocols, during this dramatic second wave of reported cases, we are seeing an increase in cases among essential health care workers. And with the regular flu season well underway, it seems more critical than ever that we do everything we can to limit exposure.

Ebert Family Clinic, in the heart of Summit County, Colorado, surrounded by world-class ski resorts drawing visitors from all over the world, has successfully managed to avoid infection among all its staff, in spite of continuing to serve its patient population since the initial lockdown this past March.

How?

“First of all, we kept our door locked. You can only come in one at a time, we meet you at the door, screen your temperature, ask if you have any symptoms; we screen when you make an appointment and make sure if anyone in your household is sick, you reschedule your appointment. If so, we made you a telehealth appointment,” says pediatrician and president Christine Ebert-Santos, MD, MPS.

And the telehealth appointments have been a success all year, saving a lot of travel and risk of exposure, making primary health care even more accessible.

Even now, Ebert Family Clinic’s pandemic protocol hasn’t changed. “But just as importantly, all of our employees are maintaining a bubble with close contacts,” adds Dr. Chris.

Operations weren’t always smooth: “Two times, when someone close to a staff member, like in our family, was sick, we stayed home,” says The Doc about having to close the clinic. I stayed home until [my husband’s] test was negative, [our nurse practitioner,] Tara stayed home until her husband’s test was negative; until we knew we didn’t have COVID. We based the risk of COVID on the standard that is described of having been within six feet of an infected person in a closed space.”

Is the vaccine going to change protocols?

“The vaccine isn’t going to change anything. The announcement from Public Health today tells exactly how many doses. That’s a drop in the bucket. What’s that when we have 30,000 residents and 90,000 visitors? It’s going to be six to nine months before we see any protection from this vaccine,” Dr. Chris confirms.

“Essential workers all have their protocols, and they’re just as important as ever. [If you can’t work] — all the parents who have to stay home with their kids, or the restaurant servers who are laid off — I’m hoping that the people who are doing well in our community can continue to help those who are suffering. There is a big sector of our community, like real estate or repairs or construction workers who have been able to continue working through this pandemic. I think [these people who are out of work] are getting help from the FIRC or applying for rent assistance. I haven’t had anyone say that they’re really struggling. And we conduct social welfare interviews, “Do you feel safe? Do you have food?” We’re doing anxiety and depression screenings on everybody. And there is a high level of anxiety among all ages. 

“We had a meeting with Heart-Centered Counseling, and now we’re plugged in with them. We have their brochures, and we’ve just signed care coordination to connect people with providers [who can help in this situation].”

Dr. Chris encourages everyone in the community to reach out with their needs. Ebert Family Clinic and other health care institutions have done very well maintaining a cohesive network of resources for everyone in search of financial, physical, mental, and emotional assistance.

Feel free to inquire about appointments or referrals to local resources at info@ebertfamilyclinic.com, or call the clinic at (970) 668-1616.

Dr. Chris with her granddaughter, comfy-cozy.

“Everybody enjoy their Christmas Zoom with their relatives. As for us, we are having a small family Christmas with six of us who work and live together, and we’re all wearing hoodie-footie flannel jammies.”

Happy Holidays from Dr. Chris, Ebert Family Clinic, and highaltitudehealth.com!

robert-ebert-santos

Roberto Santos is from the remote island of Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. He has since lived in Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, and has made Colorado his current home, where he is a web developer, musician, avid outdoorsman and prolific reader. When he is not developing applications and graphics, you can find him performing with the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, snowboarding Vail or Keystone, soaking in hot springs, or reading non-fiction at a brewery.

Acclimation, Altitude Science, Child Growth & Development, Doc Talk, Health, High Altitude, Medicine

Your Baby or Child Is On Oxygen

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This is a handout distributed by Dr. Christine Ebert-Santos, MD, MPS, at Ebert Family Clinic, Frisco, Colorado.

Living at high altitude is a challenge for our bodies. The amount of oxygen in the air we breathe is less the higher you go. Since we all need oxygen to live, this can cause problems.

There are three times when oxygen may be needed by children living at altitude:

  1. During the newborn period;
  2. When a child has a respiratory illness, even a mild cold;
  3. During the first 48 hours after returning/arriving from sea level.

When a baby takes their first breath, the higher oxygen level in the air sets off many changes in the heart, lungs and blood vessels around the lungs that convert the child’s respiratory system from transferring oxygen from the placenta to the lungs. Exposure to a low oxygen environment during the first few weeks can interfere with the normal fall in the pressures of the blood vessels in the lungs and closing of the vessels that shunted blood away from the lungs in the womb.

In babies and children, we are not worried about brain damage from lack of oxygen due to the altitude. Don’t panic if the oxygen cannula falls off during the night or the tank runs out. The problems caused by the low oxygen saturations (usually running between 78 – 88%) seen at altitude develop over days, weeks or years, due to changes in the heart and lung. Hypoxia, the term for low oxygen in the blood, causes constriction, or narrowing, of the blood vessels in the lungs. This can lead to back pressure on the lungs and heart, which may cause fluid to leak into the air sacs in the short term or abnormal increases in the heart muscle in the long ter.

Rarely do babies or children with low oxygen levels at altitude show symptoms. The normal oxygen saturation levels at 9000′ are about 92 – 93%, and can be 89 – 90% in healthy people. We start treating with oxygen below 89%, even though symptoms like trouble breathing, fast breathing, poor sleep, or poor color are unusual until the saturation level is in the 70’s.

It is important to understand that oxygen is prescribed by your doctor to treat symptoms of altitude sickness such as headache, vomiting and trouble breathing, and to prevent more severe symptoms from developing. A small percent of persons with mildly low oxygen levels will suddenly, over a few hours, go into full-blown pulmonary edema where their lungs fill with fluid, they have much more trouble breathing, and turn blue. This is a life threatening emergency.

When you arrive home with your child on oxygen, be sure and call the respiratory therapist at the phone number on the tank so they can come to your house and teach you about the equipment. Don’t feel discouraged if your toddler or young child is fighting the oxygen at first. They will usually adjust and accept the cannula in about 30 minutes.

Acclimation, Altitude Science, Athletic Training, Backcountry, Exposure, Health, High Altitude, High Altitude Training & Fitness, Medicine, Mountaineering

Acetazolamide

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Typical symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS) are headache, loss of appetite, disturbed sleep, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and dizziness. However, more serious conditions such as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or cerebral edema (HACE) can present with this illness. Avoiding these unpleasant symptoms while at elevatione is possible through gradual pre-acclimatization when possible (what science recommends!), or there are specific medications that can potentially prevent the development of AMS, such as acetazolamide. This article will address how acetazolamide (also known as Diamox) can help prevent AMS, discuss the physiological effects of the medication, some side effects, and whether or not this drug can enhance physical performance.

 How does it work?

Acetazolamide is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. Carbonic anhydrase regulates kidney absorption of sodium bicarb and chloride. Acetazolamide works by inhibiting carbonic anhydrase, preventing the reabsorption of sodium bicarb and chloride, causing acidosis in the blood. When experiencing AMS, the body is in a state of respiratory alkalosis. By taking acetazolamide, which causes metabolic acidosis it drives receptors in the body to increase the patient’s minute ventilation by as much as 50%, improving arterial PO2 and increasing oxygen saturation.

How can I obtain acetazolamide and when should I start taking it?

Acetazolamide requires a doctor’s prescription, and the typical dose for the prevention of AMS is 125 mg twice daily. The typical recommendation is to start taking acetazolamide one day before your exposure to high altitude and continue usage throughout your trip. When taken one day before exposure, studies show that acetazolamide reduced AMS incidence and enhanced tolerance to submaximal exercise on the first day at high altitude versus starting administration the day of arrival.2 However, if, for some reason, the medication isn’t started a day before arrival to high altitude, then the medication should be started upon arrival, which still shows a decreased incidence in the development of AMS. 

Allergies & Side Effects

Acetazolamide belongs to a classification of drugs known as sulfonamides, which is broken down further into two categories: antibiotics and nonantibiotics. Acetazolamide is considered a nonantibiotic sulfonamide, which varies significantly from sulfonamide antibiotics because these antibiotics contain what is known as an arylamine group in their chemical structure. This arylamine group is a key component of the allergic response to sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole, sulfasalazine, sulfadiazine, and the anti-retrovirals amprenavir and fosamprenavir); however, this structure is not present in other sulfonamide drugs like acetazolamide.1 There is available evidence that suggests patients who are allergic to arylamine sulfonamides do not cross-react to sulfonamides that lack the arylamine group and so may safely take non-arylamine sulfonamides.1 Patients with known allergies to sulfonamide drugs should consult with their healthcare provider before taking acetazolamide.

Like all other medications, there are risks that side effects will occur with acetazolamide’s administration. The common side effects are fatigue, malaise, changes in taste, paresthesia, diarrhea, electrolyte disorders, polyuria, and tinnitus. While conducting research, I found 3 – 4 people from my hometown, located at 69 feet above sea level, who have taken acetazolamide while rapidly ascending to 8,000+ feet to ski or hunt. When asked how their experience was taking acetazolamide, the common response was that they stopped using it within the first two days due to the change in the taste of their beer! The pleasurable “fizz” in our carbonated drinks is attributed to chemical excitation of nociceptors in the oral cavity via the conversion of CO2 to the carbonic acid in a reaction catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase. So administering a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor like acetazolamide results in flat-tasting carbonated drinks, or, as described by the aforementioned subjects, a “nasty beer”!4 While a bad tasting beer is no fun, AMS is a lot less fun, and one would be best advised to continue taking acetazolamide while at high altitude.

Can taking acetazolamide increase physical performance and endurance at high altitudes?

Though enticing, it doesn’t seem to work out that way. There are multiple studies on exercise endurance in hypoxic conditions with the administration of acetazolamide, but the produced results are confounding. The majority of the studies show that for a non-acclimated person taking acetazolamide in hypoxic conditions, endurance and exhaustion time were increased with submaximal and maximal exercise. A few reasons this may be true are the induction of metabolic acidosis and its effects on muscle cells, the diuretic effect of the drug inducing dehydration, and additional increases in work of breathing cause vasoconstriction in locomotor muscles, which can impair exercise performance.3 Regardless, this medication’s proven science in the prevention of AMS should not be mistaken with the multiple confounding studies on exercise endurance.

Scott “Scotty B” Rogers, FNP-S

From Opelousas, Louisiana, Scott Rogers is currently a Family Nurse Practitioner student at Walden University after having practiced five years as an RN following his BSN from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has lived in Colorado for the past four years where he enjoys hiking with his wife and dog, snowboarding all the resorts in Summit County, and basketball, and hopes to pursue more work with acute physical rehabilitation, orthopedics, and sports medicine.

References

1. American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology. (2019, June 23). Acetazolamide and sulfonamide allergy: AAAAI. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.aaaai.org/ask-the-expert/acetazolamide

2. Burtscher, M., Gatterer, H., Faulhaber, M., & Burtscher, J. (2014). Acetazolamide pre-treatment before ascending to high altitudes: when to start?. International journal of clinical and experimental medicine, 7(11), 4378–4383.

3. Garske, L., Medicine, 1., Brown, M., Morrison, S., Y, B., G., B., . . . Zoll, J. (2003, March 01). Acetazolamide reduces exercise capacity and increases leg fatigue under hypoxic conditions. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00746.2001

4. Jean-Marc Dessirier, Christopher T. Simons, Mirela Iodi Carstens, Michael O’Mahony, E. Carstens, Psychophysical and Neurobiological Evidence that the Oral Sensation Elicited by Carbonated Water is of Chemogenic Origin, Chemical Senses, Volume 25, Issue 3, June 2000, Pages 277–284, https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/25.3.277

Acclimation, Altitude Science, Child Growth & Development, Doc Talk, Health, High Altitude, Medicine, Neonatal

A conversation with Dr. Chris on neonatal oxygen levels at elevations 9000’ and above

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My name is Austin Ethridge, I am a physician assistant student from Red Rocks Community College PA program who has been fortunate enough to have completed my pediatric rotation with Dr. Chris in Frisco, Colorado, this month. Dr. Chris has extensive experience providing care to the pediatric residents of Summit County, having established her practice here in 2000, following 20 years as a pediatrician on Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, southeast of Japan. She has a unique perspective on high altitude health, having transitioned from sea level to the 8000′ and above elevations unique to Summit County. Since moving here, she has been advocating for more in-depth medical research regarding the needs specific to these high-altitude communities. We are here in her office today at the Ebert Family Clinic to discuss neonatal oxygen use in Summit County.

Dr. Chris, based on your experience, why do neonates need oxygen at a higher elevation? Is it because they need to acclimate?

Yes, that’s basically it, and smaller lung size at birth.

Yes, that’s what I read. Basically, the maternal physiology compensates for the higher altitude. When the infant is born, their lung size and physiology need to catch up to the altitude.

Based on your practice, when do you place neonates on oxygen?

Usually at 89% or below, but you see, that’s just it. Many parents ask why their children need to be on oxygen when neither themselves nor their siblings were on oxygen. One of the primary reasons that this has become more of an issue is the less invasive methods of measuring oxygen saturation in the blood. Before the 1990s, the only time to measure oxygen saturation in a newborn was if a concern for illness or pulmonary problems existed, which was completed by obtaining an arterial blood gas, a very invasive procedure. Do you know at what oxygen saturation level we begin to detect cyanosis in neonates?

Around75%, which means before the pulse oximeter used today, we had no idea if the infant’s oxygen saturation was in the 80s! Now that we have the pulse oximeter, we have access to so much more information. And this is why it is essential to determine the normal oxygen levels for these infants at higher elevations.

Does this include cyanosis or blue discoloration of the hands and feet, or is it just central as in the face and chest?

The blue discoloration of legs and arms do not count; this is very common and not concerning, only the discoloration of the trunk and face.

Yes, based on the articles that I have been reading while I have been here, there are not many studies that reflect normal oxygen saturation in neonates at a higher elevation. Most of the articles that I did find determined that newborn oxygen saturation is lower at elevations of around 6000’, with average values within the range of 89-96% SpO2 compared to greater than 97% at sea level. However, there could be a significant difference between 9000’-10000’ feet and the 6000’ in these studies.1-3

That is exactly right, and that is why I want to do a study here in Summit County to determine the average oxygen saturation at these altitudes.

On average, how many newborns do you place on oxygen in Summit County?

About 40% of newborns are placed on oxygen due to low oxygen levels at birth, and I would say that less than 5% will still need oxygen after their two-week visit; however, this rate may be higher in those that live at elevations of 10,000′ or greater. In general, studies have observed that the lowest oxygen levels tend to occur around the 4th day of life and then improve from this point onward. What is the main complication that we are worried about in infants that have low oxygen levels?

Pulmonary hypertension. At birth, when the fetal circulation is shunted back through the lungs, the pulmonary pressure decreases to allow this to happen. If the oxygen levels are too low, the vessels in the lungs may not dilate enough, and this could lead to elevated pulmonary pressures. I read an interesting study that found increased pulmonary pressures in Tibet children as measured by ECHO cardiogram until the age of 14. These pressures were noted to increase with increasing elevation but to decrease with increasing age. Generally, by the age of 14, the pulmonary pressures had normalized; the authors considered this to be a normal physiological response. However, it is worth noting that these children in the study came from generations of individuals that have always lived at these altitudes.4-5

That is correct. That is the difference between adaptation and acclimatization. Many of the children that live up here are acclimatized, meaning that their bodies have adapted on a physiological level, but their genetics remain the same. However, adaptation is observed in many families that have lived at high elevations for generations; in these instances, the changes have occurred at the genetic level.

That makes sense; so the data from some of those studies may not directly apply to the population here.

That is correct. Are we worried about brain damage in this setting of low blood oxygen levels?

No, I do not think so.

We are not! In fact, as an example of this: when I was in Saipan, there was a child that had a cyanotic, congenital heart defect that was unable to be repaired for social reasons. This child always appeared blue, and his oxygen saturation would have been very low. He did just fine in terms of development and progress in academics. There were no signs of developmental delay or any other neurological problems at all.

Are there any resources you recommend for parents whose newborn may need to be on oxygen?

Yes, I have a handout that I provide to all families whose infants are on oxygen. (View Dr. Chris’s handout here.)

Are there any red flags or signs that the newborns’ oxygen may not be high enough when they are sent home? Is there anything parents should look out for? I know that you mentioned the oxygen level needs to be as low as 75% before there are any signs of concerning central cyanosis.

No, there really are no clinical signs. A company called Owlet produces a sock for the newborn’s foot that monitors oxygen saturation. I am not sure how accurate this is, but if the parents really want to do something to monitor the oxygen level, this could be a way to do so. It is pretty expensive. On an aside, we are currently in communication with this company regarding future opportunities to conduct research using their product with regards to newborn oxygen saturation at higher elevations, so stay tuned for more developments on this topic.

Are there any risks to starting the infant on oxygen?

No, not at the level that these newborns are sent home on. In premature infants, there is a risk associated with oxygen therapy for eye and lung disease. However, these premature infants are placed on very high flow rates and positive pressures. The damage is actually caused by the pressures of the oxygen being too high. This is not the case for the newborns that we place on oxygen.

Are there any risks to infants or children growing up at high altitude?

Yes, there is some evidence of a very slight increased risk of pulmonary hypertension, but this is very rare.

Thank you so much for taking the time to discuss this, Dr. Chris!

References

  1. Ravert P, Detwiler TL, Dickinson JK. Mean oxygen saturation in well neonates at altitudes between 4498 and 8150 feet. Adv Neonatal Care. 2011 Dec;11(6):412-7. doi: 10.1097/ANC.0b013e3182389348. Erratum in: Adv Neonatal Care. 2012 Feb;12(1):27. PMID: 22123474.
  2. Morgan MC, Maina B, Waiyego M, Mutinda C, Aluvaala J, Maina M, English M. Oxygen saturation ranges for healthy newborns within 24 hours at 1800 m. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2017 May;102(3):F266-F268. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2016-311813. Epub 2017 Feb 2. PMID: 28154110; PMCID: PMC5474098.
  3. Bakr AF & Habib HS, Normal Values of Pulse Oximetry in Natewborns at High Altitude. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 2005; 51(3) 170-173.
  4. Qi HY, Ma RY, Jiang LX, et al. Anatomical and hemodynamic evaluations of the heart and pulmonary arterial pressure in healthy children residing at high altitude in China. Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc. 2014;7:158-164. Published 2014 Nov 12. doi:10.1016/j.ijcha.2014.10.015
  5. Remien K, Majmundar SH. Physiology, Fetal Circulation. [Updated 2020 Aug 11]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539710/
  6. Thilo EH, Park-Moore B, Berman ER, Carson BS. Oxygen Saturation by Pulse Oximetry in Healthy Infants at an Altitude of 1610 m (5280 ft): What Is Normal? Am J Dis Child. 1991;145(10):1137–1140. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1991.02160100069025

Austin Ethridge is a second-year physician assistant student at the Red Rocks Community College Physician Assistant Program. Originally from the Colorado front range, Austin attended the University of Northern Colorado where he obtained both a bachelors and masters degree in chemistry prior to attending PA school. In his free time, Austin enjoys spending time with his friends and family, reading, and cycling.

Backcountry, Backpacking, Exposure, Health, High Altitude, Huts, Medicine, Mountaineering

WMS Blog Entry No. 5: Advances in Frostbite, a Synopsis of Dr. Peter Hackett’s Lecture

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Frostbite is an injury caused by freezing of the skin and underlying tissue. The main pathophysiology of frostbite is ischemia. Basically, where there is blood flow there is heat and where there is no blood flow there is no heat to that area. The vasoconstriction and loss of blood flow to the skin predispose the skin to becoming frozen. Heat transfer depends on blood flow and blood flow depends on sympathetic nerve tone. In our extremities, there are only nerves that cause vasoconstriction. Exposure to cold or a drop in the body’s core temperature can induce vasoconstriction from these sympathetic nerves in which decreases the amount of blood flow to the extremities to keep the central aspect of the body warm and central organs well-perfused to help to maintain the body’s core temperature.

Frostbite usually occurs in the apical areas of the skin also called glabrous, which is Latin for smooth because these areas have no hair. These areas include the face, palmar surface of the hand, and the plantar surface of the foot. These areas of the skin are rich in arteriovenous anastomoses, which are low-resistance connections between the small arteries and small veins that supply the peripheral blood flow in the apical regions of the skin. These anastomoses allow the blood to flow into the venous plexus of the skin without passing through capillaries, and play a major role in temperature regulation.

Causative factors of frostbite include inadequate insulation, circulatory compromise, dehydration, moisture, trauma, and immobility. All of these factors in combination can result in frostbite.

The behavioral risk factors include mental illness, alcohol/drug use, fear, apathy, and anxiety. All of these risk factors can contribute to frostbite, generally, from poor self-care.

Frostbite is said to kill twice during its two phases that occur. The first phase is the frozen phase in which ice crystals form in the intracellular compartment at about 29 degrees Fahrenheit. These ice crystals will suck the fluid out of the endothelial cells and become enlarged causing the endothelial cells to lyse from dehydration and interrupt microcirculation. The second phase is the rewarming phase in which the skin thaws and is at risk for microthrombi production and necrosis due to prolonged injury to those endothelial cells.

The usual phase at which we see frostbite in a clinical setting is after thawing, in which the skin looks flushed pink, red, with the appearance of blebs that form one hour to twenty-four hours after thawing. These blebs can rupture spontaneously in 4-10 days and shortly after, a cast-like eschar forms. Then the eschar usually sheds in 21-30 days.

Deep Frostbite

Frostbite is classified based on the depth of tissue damage, from superficial with no tissue damage being mild and deep tissue damage including muscle, bone, or tendon being classified as severe frostbite. The mildest form of frostbite is called frostnip. Frostnip is freezing of the skin but there is no actual freezing injury and doesn’t cause permanent skin damage.

Stages of Frostbite

What can you do in the field for Frostbite?

It is important to provide supportive care with IV or PO hydration to prevent dehydration. If the affected area is frozen with no imminent rescue, it is recommended to thaw the area with warm water and try to avoid refreezing. You can give NSAIDs, such as Ibuprofen, 400 mg every 8 hours, or ketorolac 30 mg IV. If the person is at altitude and their oxygen saturation is low you can provide oxygen. However, the individual must be taken to the nearest hospital for further treatment, especially in cases of severe frostbite.

New research studies have been exploring the use of thrombolytics in the treatment of frostbite. Many of the research studies have shown that IV TPA or iloprost may be of benefit to administer in a hospital setting. However, iloprost is not approved for IV use in the United States and other prostacyclins have not been studied for the use of frostbite as of yet. There are current literature and guidelines that have been published for the prevention and treatment of frostbite, however, more research is needed to further support standardized treatment of all patients with frostbite with thrombolytic therapy. Hopefully, these new studies will encourage more research into using thrombolytics and prostacyclins for frostbite.

In the meantime, it would be best to stay warm to prevent frostbite. Tips to help in frostbite prevention include:

  • Limit time you’re outdoors in cold, wet, or windy weather. Pay attention to weather forecasts and wind chill readings. In very cold, windy weather, exposed skin can develop frostbite in a matter of minutes.
  • Dress in several layers of loose, warm clothing. Air trapped between the layers of clothing acts as insulation against the cold. Wear windproof and waterproof outer garments to protect against wind, snow, and rain. Choose undergarments that wick moisture away from your skin. Change out of wet clothing — particularly gloves, hats, and socks — as soon as possible.
  • Wear a hat or headband that fully covers your ears. Heavy woolen or windproof materials make the best headwear for cold protection.
  • Wear socks and sock liners that fit well, provide insulation, and avoid moisture. You might also try hand and foot warmers. Be sure the foot warmers don’t make your boots too tight, restricting blood flow.
  • Watch for signs of frostbite. Early signs of frostbite include red or pale skin, prickling, and numbness.
  • Eat well-balanced meals and stay hydrated. Doing this even before you go out in the cold will help you stay warm.

Lauren Pincomb Apodaca is a second-year Physician Assistant student in the Red Rocks Community College Physician Assistant Program. Originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico, she graduated from New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Art in Chemistry. After obtaining her undergraduate degrees, she was accepted as a Ph.D. fellow in Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota where she conducted research in a biomedical laboratory doing cancer research. She then realized that she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives through hands-on experience rather than working in a laboratory. She went back to New Mexico and received her certification as a nursing assistant and started from the ground up to reach her ultimate goal of being a Physician Assistant. She has enjoyed living in Colorado and the many outdoor activities that Colorado has to offer. Her favorite are kayaking, fishing, and hiking. She is looking forward to graduating soon.

References:

Hill, C. (2017, December 22). Cutaneous Circulation – Arteriovenous Anastomoses. Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://teachmephysiology.com/cardiovascular-system/special-circulations/cutaneous-circulation/

Frostbite. (2019, March 20). Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frostbite/symptoms-causes/syc-20372656

Backcountry, Backpacking, Health, High Altitude, Medicine, Mountaineering, Wildlife

WMS Blog Entry No. 4, Part I: Tick Bite Prevention and Proper Removal

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Ticks are blood feeding parasites. Ticks are known as vectors because they can transmit different pathogens responsible for several diseases including Colorado Tick Fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), Tularemia and relapsing fever. While there are 27 species of ticks in Colorado, almost all human encounters w/ ticks in Colorado involve the Rocky Mountain wood tick, a tick that only lives in the western U.S. and southern Canada at elevations between 4,000 and 10,000 feet. Another highly prevalent tick is the brown dog tick which is specific to dogs.

Before you go out!

DO:

  • Wear protective clothing! Wearing long sleeved shirts, long pants tucked into your socks and close toed shoes can keep ticks from getting onto your skin, as ticks are usually acquired while brushing against low vegetation.
    • wear light colored clothing, as this makes it easier to find ticks that have been picked up
    • Treat clothing w/ permethrin as this can help kill or repel ticks for days to weeks! Do not apply directly to skin.
  • Use Tick repellent. This includes the well-known DEET along with picaridin, IR3535 and oil of lemon eucalyptus
    • Repellent can be applied either directly to skin or to clothing, AND is most effective if applied to the lower body that is likely to come in contact with ticks first!
    • If applying repellents to skin:
      • DO NOT use high concentration formulas on children (DEET concentration > 30)
      • AVOID applying repellents to your hands or other areas that may come in contact with your mouth
      • DO NOT put repellent on wounds
      • ALWAYS wash skin that has had repellent on it.
  • Remember: Dogs can get ticks too! Don’t forget to consult your veterinarian about how to protect your furry friends against ticks.

When you go out: DO NOT assume that you won’t get bit.

  • Avoid tick habitat
    • Ticks are most active in spring and early summer and are concentrated where animal hosts most commonly travel, including areas of brush along field and woodland edges or commonly traveled animal host paths though grassy areas.
      • DO try to avoid exposure in these areas by staying in the center of marked trails when hiking to avoid brushing vegetation that ticks may be perched on waiting for you!
    • If possible, avoid these sites during tick season.
    • If you live in known tick territory, you may even get a tick bite in your own backyard! Decrease this risk by creating a tick-free zone around your house by keeping your lawn mowed, eliminating rodent habitats (wood or rock piles) around your house, and placing wood chips between your lawn and tall grasses or woods.

After coming back inside

  • Perform a tick check which includes botha visual and physical inspection of your entire body, as well as your gear and pets. Because ticks take several hours to settle and begin feeding, you have time to detect and remove them. You tend to not feel ticks because their saliva has histamine suppression and analgesic effects. Ticks like warm, moist and dark areas but can latch anywhere.
    • Examine your scalp, ears, underarms, in and around the belly button, around the waist, groin/pubic area, buttocks and behind your knees.
    • If camping, perform tick checks daily on humans AND pets, making sure to examine children at least twice daily. Again, pay special attention to the head and neck and don’t forget to check clothing for crawling ticks.
    • Shower and wash your clothes after returning home from the outdoors.

If you or a family member get bit by a tick: DO NOT PANIC, and DO NOT immediately rush to the emergency room! If the tick has been attached for less than a day, the chance of the tick transmitting one of these diseases is low. Removing ticks can be tricky, as they use their mouthparts to firmly attach to the skin.

Best method for tick removal -> remove as quickly as possible!

1. Grasp the tick with fine tipped tweezers as close to the skin as possible. If tweezers are not available, use a rubber gloved hand or place tissue or thin plastic over the tick before removing it to avoid possible transmission of disease.

2. Pull tick SLOWLY and with STEADY PRESSURE STRAIGHT away from the skin

  • DO NOT:
    • Crush, puncture, twist or jerk the tick as you remove it. This may increase risk of the tick regurgitating infected body fluids into the skin or leaving mouthparts in skin

3. After the tick is removed, disinfectant the attachment site on skin and WASH YOUR HANDS. Dispose of the live tick by placing in a sealed bag/container and submersing it in alcohol, then wrapping it tightly and crushing it in duct tape, OR flushing it down the toilet.

  • DO NOT:
    • crush the tick in your fingers
    • try to suffocate the tick still on the person by covering it with petroleum jelly OR touching it with a hot match to suffocate -> these methods can cause the tick to burst and INCREASE time the tick is attached, as well as making the tick more difficult to grasp

Remember: the goal is to remove the tick quickly from the host as opposed to waiting for it to detach on its own.

If you remove the tick and are worried, you can always put the tick in a sealed container with alcohol and bring the dead tick to your medical provider.

If you develop a rash or flu-like symptoms (fever, fatigue, body aches, headache) within several weeks of removing tick, see your medical provider and tell him/her about the recent tick bite, when it occurred and where you acquired the tick.

Remember: These diseases are very treatable if caught early enough!

Graphic taken from https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/pdfs/FS_TickBite-508.pdf

Stay tuned for next month’s explanation of the tick life cycle and tick-borne diseases in the high country!

References

1. Colorado Tick and Tick Born Diseases fact sheet. https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/colorado-ticks-and-tick-borne-diseases-5-593/ Accessed on 8/8/20

2. Peterson J., Robinson Howe. P. Lyme Disease: An Uptick in Cases for 2017. Wilderness Medicine Magazine: https://www.wms.org/magazine/1213/Lyme-Disease. Accessed 8/8/20

3. Do’s and Don’t’s of Tick Time: https://awls.org/wilderness-medicine-case-studies/dos-and-donts-of-tick-time/ Accessed 8/8/20

Laurie Pinkerton is a 3rd year Physician Assistant Student studying at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Originally from Northern, VA, she graduated from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA with a degree in Biology in 2014. She moved to Keystone to live that ski life and stayed for 2 years, working as a pharmacy tech at Prescription Alternatives and as a medical assistant at Summit Cardiology. Prior to starting PA school, she moved to Idaho where she learned about organic farming and alternative medicine.  She has loved every second of being back in Summit County and learning here at Ebert Family Practice. She looks forward to practicing Integrative Medicine in the near future.

Acclimation, Altitude Science, Athletic Training, Avalanche Safety, Backcountry, Child Growth & Development, Doc Talk, Exposure, High Altitude, High Altitude Training & Fitness, Medicine, Mountaineering

WMS Blog entry No. 1: The Rule of 3’s and other pearls from the annual Wilderness Medical Society Conference 2020

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Over 800 participants from 25 countries joined the virtual conference this year which included Dr. Chris’ poster presentation on growth at altitude. Over the next several months we will extract the most relevant information to publish in our blog, starting with:

The Rule of 3’s

You can survive 3 minutes without oxygen

                              3 hours without shelter in a harsh environment

                              3 days without water

                              3 weeks without food

Dr. Christine Ebert-Santos presents her research on growth in children at high altitude, “Colorado Kids are Smaller.”

We will be sharing some of the science, experience and wisdom from these meetings addressing how to survive. For example, Dr. Peter Hackett of the Hypoxia Institute reviewed studies on how to acclimatize before travel or competition in a low oxygen environment.

Susanne Spano, an emergency room doctor and long distance backpacker discusses gear, how to build an emergency shelter in the wild, and when it is OK to drink from that refreshing mountain stream.

Michael Caudell presenting on plant toxicity.

Michael Caudill, MD shares what NOT to eat when you are stranded in the wilderness in his lecture on toxic plants.

Presentations included studies of blood pressure in people traveling from sea level to high altitude, drones delivering water to stranded hikers, an astronaut describing life and work at 400,000 m, what is the best hydration for ultra athletes, how ticks can cause meat allergy, and, as always, the many uses for duct tape.

Duct tape for survival.

We will also update you on the treatment of frostbite as well as a discussion about “Climate change and human health.”

Sign up for our regular blog updates so you can be updated on wilderness and mountain medicine!

Acclimation, Altitude Science, COVID-19, Doc Talk, Exposure, Health, High Altitude, Medicine, Pandemic

COVID in Colorado Update: Reasons high altitude residents may be less susceptible

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Last week we were privileged to have a Zoom discussion with two high altitude experts from the Instituto Pulmonar Y Patologia de la Altura (IPPA) founded in La Paz,  Bolivia in 1970. Dr Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja and Dr. Natalia Zubieta-DeUrioste answered our questions about their recently published article, Does the Pathogenesis of SAR-CoV-2 Virus Decrease at High Altitude?. They and the seven  coauthors presented data comparing COVID cases in high altitude areas of China, Bolivia and Ecuador showing a marked reduction in numbers compared to low altitude areas in the same countries, with dramatic, colorful topographic maps.

Drs. Zubieta-Calleja and Zubieta-DeUrioste and their colleagues theorized four reasons why altitudes above 2500 m could reduce the severity of the corona virus. (Note: Frisco, CO is at 2800 m, Vail 2500 m). As described in their previous paper published in March, the intense UV radiation at altitude as well as the dry environment likely reduce the viability of the virus in the air and on surfaces.

Dr. Zubieta-Calleja on a Zoom chat with Dr. Chris explaining a chart comparing UV exposure in La Paz, Bolivia (top line) and Copenhagen, Denmark (bottom line).
Dr. Chris with Dr. Gustavo Zubieta-Calleja and other altitude experts from the Hypoxia Conference in La Paz on the Camino Chacaltaya, which reaches an elevation of 17,785’/5421 m.

The low barometric pressure causes air particles to be spaced more widely, which would also decrease the viral particles inspired with each breath, reducing the severity and frequency of infections.

Furthermore, residents accustomed to chronic hypoxia may express reduced levels of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in their lungs and other tissues. This enzyme has been found to be the entry path for the corona virus into cells where it replicates. Finally, the normal adaptation and acclimatization of populations with prolonged residence above 2500 meters may reduce the severity of the disease in individuals, and reduce mortality. This includes increased ventilation, improved arterial oxygen transport, and higher tissue oxygenation mediated by increased red blood cells produced under the influence of erythropoietin, which could be explored as a possible therapy.

Dr. Zubieta-Calleja with statistics reflecting the number of COVID-19 infections at different elevations in Bolivia. Note the most infections occur at a lower elevation.

As we stated in our interview quoted in the Summit Daily News March 17th, none of these factors can be relied upon to protect every individual. Therefore it is important to continue frequent hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing, and avoid touching your face.