Altitude Sickness Prevention with Ibuprofen Relative to Acetazolamide

Acetazolamide is the drug of choice for prevention of acute mountain sickness, established in over 200 studies in the past 40 years.1 The primary mechanism of acetazolamide in combatting the hypobaric hypoxia of high altitude is through a bicarbonate diuresis that induces a compensatory respiratory alkalosis.2 Ibuprofen has been found effective for chemoprophylaxis of acute mountain sickness3,4 while secondary findings in unpowered studies have shown mixed results.4,5 This raises the possibility that ibuprofen's inhibition of the cyclo-oxygenase inflammatory cascade and ensuing cerebral processes, similar to glucocorticoids, may confer protection.
Source: The American Journal of Medicine - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Brief Observation Source Type: research