Affect of high altitude on Kidneys - Anyone know?
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:14 am
Hi
I had a 2nd transplant in Oct 2010 after my wonderful wife donated. I want to go on holiday to somewhere like Switerland and never considered that the high altitude could be a problem. I was watching a TV documentary that was showing the affect of high altitude on the body e.g high blood pressure, kidneys work harder etc so I thought I had better look into it a bit. Wikapedia says high altitude is anything from 1500m - 3500m and most of the resorts seem to be around 1500m. I was hoping to have a sightseeing trip up a mountain to see the views, but not actually mountaineering . I have also read a bit of in depth medical stuff that was way over my head, but the gist was that no investigations have really been done to see the affect of altiude on kidney disease but given that high altitude affects the rest of the body it is probably reasonable to conclude that it could affect them.
I will ask my consultant when I next go to clinic (he will probably say go and enjoy it) but I don't want to go if at the back of mind it could be causing some damage.
I am sure many of you on here have been skiing or sightseeing in places of altitude above 1500m. If so, did your kidney function change as a result? My current kidney function is very good so I would guess that this would help. My plan would be to stay for about a week at 1500m with the occassional trip a little higher.
Any advice or comments appreciated.
Mick
I had a 2nd transplant in Oct 2010 after my wonderful wife donated. I want to go on holiday to somewhere like Switerland and never considered that the high altitude could be a problem. I was watching a TV documentary that was showing the affect of high altitude on the body e.g high blood pressure, kidneys work harder etc so I thought I had better look into it a bit. Wikapedia says high altitude is anything from 1500m - 3500m and most of the resorts seem to be around 1500m. I was hoping to have a sightseeing trip up a mountain to see the views, but not actually mountaineering . I have also read a bit of in depth medical stuff that was way over my head, but the gist was that no investigations have really been done to see the affect of altiude on kidney disease but given that high altitude affects the rest of the body it is probably reasonable to conclude that it could affect them.
I will ask my consultant when I next go to clinic (he will probably say go and enjoy it) but I don't want to go if at the back of mind it could be causing some damage.
I am sure many of you on here have been skiing or sightseeing in places of altitude above 1500m. If so, did your kidney function change as a result? My current kidney function is very good so I would guess that this would help. My plan would be to stay for about a week at 1500m with the occassional trip a little higher.
Any advice or comments appreciated.
Mick