Altitude sickness, also called Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), also known as Soroche or hypobaropathy is a form of Sickness caused by reduced atmospheric pressure as a result of altitude sickness.

What Causes Altitude Sickness or Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)

Exposing yourself to high elevations and high altitudes of about 2400 meters and above and lacking proper acclimatization causes Altitude Sickness. Since Mount Kilimanjaro measures a staggering 5875meters above sea level, this is way above the standard elevation of 2400 meters which would result in physical distress causing difficulty in adjusting to lower oxygen pressure.

At these high altitudes of the Majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, the air becomes less compressed and is, therefore, thinner causing Altitude Sickness, making it lesser than what you are normally used to breathing in, something can only be compared to ‘working with only one lung’.

Altitude Sickness (AMS) can be severe at times as it makes your body weak, even though if your condition worsens there is a possibility of air evacuation or descending the mountain when necessary.

Fitter people are at lesser risk of having Altitude Sickness symptoms but it is not easy to predict who can and cannot experience symptoms of Altitude Sickness. Fit people’s cardiovascular systems can withstand longer periods on low pressures that come with higher altitudes without much strain. Altitudes above 3500 meters, however, can cause altitude sickness often no matter how fit you may be especially if you are not familiar with hiking in environments with low atmospheric pressures.

Best way How to minimize your chances of Altitude Sickness at Mount Kilimanjaro’s high altitudes. Keeping fit and doing exercise at high altitudes before climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is a great way to familiarize yourself with high elevations to minimize Altitude sickness.