London, Dec 19 (PTI) Climbing highest mountains in theworld such as Mount Everest can actually cause psychosis,according to a study.
A team from Eurac Research in Italy and the MedicalUniversity of Innsbruck in Austria carried out aninvestigation into psychotic episodes at extreme altitudesand subjected these to systematic scientific analysis.
They discovered a new medical entity which they named theisolated high-altitude psychosis.
In the study published in the journal PsychologicalMedicine, researchers collected around 80 psychotic episodestaken from German mountain literature.
Up to now, doctors had attributed such syndromes, alongwith other acoustic, optical and olfactory hallucinations, toorganic causes.
They frequently occur, along with symptoms such as severeheadaches, dizziness and impaired balance, as side effects ofa high-altitude cerebral oedema.
"The highest mountains in the world are maddeninglybeautiful. It is just that we had no idea that they couldactually drive us to madness as well," said Hermann Brugger,Head of the Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine at EuracResearch.
Researchers cited the example of mountaineer JeremyWindsor who experienced something very strange while climbingMount Everest in 2008.
"Alone at an altitude of 27,000 feet, he encounteredanother man, named Jimmy, who offered words of encouragementand trekked alongside him before disappearing without a traceinto the snow and ice," researchers said.
"In our study we found that there was a group of symptomswhich are purely psychotic. Although they are indeed linkedto altitude, they cannot be ascribed to a high-altitudecerebral oedema, nor to other organic factors such as fluidloss, infections or organic diseases," said Brugger.
The isolated high-altitude psychosis is most likely tooccur at heights exceeding 7,000 metres above sea-level.
Researchers have only been able to speculate on thecauses: it is possible that factors such as oxygendeficiency, the situation of being totally dependent ononeself and the early stages of swellings in certain areas ofthe brain could all be triggers for the psychosis.
The symptoms disappear completely as soon as themountaineer leaves the danger zone and comes down from themountain and there does not appear to be any consequentialdamage, researchers said.
"This discovery has allowed us to make a more thoroughinvestigation of temporary psychoses in otherwise completelyhealthy people, an investigation which might yield importantindications for the understanding of psychiatric diseasessuch as schizophrenia," said Katharina Hufner from Universityof Innsbruck.
The results of the study are also relevant, because thesyndrome increases the risk of accidents.
"It is of the utmost importance that extreme mountaineersare fully apprised of these temporary phenomena, saidBrugger.
"There are probably unknown numbers of unreportedaccidents and deaths caused by psychoses. So as to reduce thenumber of such accidents, it is of the greatest importance todisseminate cognitive coping strategies which themountaineers themselves, or with the help of their partners,can apply directly whilst on the mountain," Hufner said.
The researchers plan to collaborate with Nepalese doctorsby undertaking further investigations in the Himalayas. Theyhope to find out how frequently this disease occurs. PTI SARSAR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.