[Planned sojourn at high elevations--what the primary care physician should know].

For a healthy, active person, the chance that new ischemic events will occur up in the mountains is not any higher than in the valley. However, for inactive persons with health risks, there is a chance that the stress at the unaccustomed elevation could provoke a clinically silent coronary insufficiency. People with hypertension or diabetes should be able to monitor and adjust the dosage of their medication themselves. Asthmatic patients are often surprisingly fit even in the mountains. When the medication dosage is well established, they may also go mountain climbing at high elevations. On the other hand, when COPD or pulmonary hypertension is present, a pulmonologist should be consulted to determine whether high elevations could cause problems for the patient. Patients who have a medical history of thromboembolisms also require special preparation and prophylaxis. Migraine sufferers should acclimate themselves particularly conscientiously because migraine symptoms are very difficult to differentiate from that of acute mountain sickness.