Risks of Brain Injury Visiting High Altitude Destinations....Mauna Kea? (Waipio: transfer, cost)

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Crusoe/Kimberly, when you ask about the affects of high altitudes over a prolonged period of time, what do you consider to be high altitude? You described the health benefits your son has experienced from living in Hawaii and I was wondering what you attributed that to and why you were asking about high altitude.

We lived in Colorado for many years at 8,000 feet and now travel back and forth from 1200' to 8000'. So far we are doing okay (both in late 60s), and hope to do so for a long time.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Crusoe

Recently a family member decided he wants to train for triathlons using the volcano's altitude. When we began searching pro's & con's of high altitude training we came across an item published in Scientific American, Into Thin Air: Mountain Climbing Kills Brain Cells, The neural cost of high-altitude mountaineering, the Fayed study.

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

I was wondering what you attributed that to and why you were asking about high altitude.

Hmmmmm, maybe we can get a group rate on those remedial reading classes you were talking about, Crusoe...

[Crusoe]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Crusoe/Kimberly, when you ask about the affects of high altitudes over a prolonged period of time, what do you consider to be high altitude? You described the health benefits your son has experienced from living in Hawaii and I was wondering what you attributed that to and why you were asking about high altitude.

We lived in Colorado for many years at 8,000 feet and now travel back and forth from 1200' to 8000'. So far we are doing okay (both in late 60s), and hope to do so for a long time.

Good Evening Dreaming,

Our beautiful state of Colorado is being battered. Last summer we were in Aurora for several weeks prepping for a long term stay. Fires were blazing in every direction except toward Kansas. The smoke was too much for our son. We left for Oregon to retreat expecting to return until that whooping cough epidemic caught our attention in September. Loved the children's hospital in Denver. We were already establishing care. We were fortunate to find ourselves accepted quickly into therapy and with specialists. The hospital was dedicated to children yet at the same time are obsessed with taking down Duke for the top spot of best national pediatric hospital. In Colorado the admin. developed a customer service agenda catering to the entire family to bounce their scores. While we were waiting for Dr. Fox we were offered beverages, a snack cart came by, fancy service for adults, tons of entertainment offered to siblings too. They are seriously investing in their future.

Are you okay where you live?

I am wondering about altitude benefits at around 9,300 feet (Hat tip to Open D), the elevation of the visitors center on Mauna Kea. We live about 40 minutes from that site. When I spoke to ranger Roger last week he mentioned the parking lot is open 24 hours for star gazers. (He said anyone wanting to camp he would not harass if they kept down the road at least to the electrical cage to the right when descending the volcano although the University of Hawaii does not advertise the notion.) I would like to test if my son would sleep better, more consistent at or after being exposed to a higher altitude. We would rent a van first, makeshift a bed for our little guy to stay overnight. As long as someone is by the vehicle not in it all night you can remain parked by the visitor center building. A mom we met in Seattle Washington, suggested her son rested better after she took him every night for a month to the visitors center on Mount Rainer. Their elevation is under 6,000 feet I think there. I love Mauna Kea. There would be no hardship to spend a few hours there daily. Temps got down to 54f which was not prohibitive.


Health benefits we are enjoying I believe are rooted in everyone being less stressed. We finally feel at home. The great air, increased Ozone, abundance of fruit, veggies grown in volcanic rich soil have perked him straight up. We have not given him as much seafood as I have hoped. We purchase our meat from Waimea, mostly serve poultry though. Of course the new friends, wonderful neighbors, laid back, relaxed attitudes have been remarkable boosts also. We began planting this week our own garden. We are starting simple, watermelon, herbs, strawberries. We'll keep adding as we clear more ground.

How do you decide when to be in Colorado or Hawaii? Have you found good flight prices? Currently we have my husbands tickets purchased through December 28th. On average we paid $800 round trip from Anchorage to Hilo.

[Crusoe]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Hmmmmm, maybe we can get a group rate on those remedial reading classes you were talking about, Crusoe...

I call dibs to be first in line. I get excited to read something, I forget most of what I actually read.

My 24 year old arrived three weeks ago to help with his brother. The other day we are packed ready to head over to Mauna Kea resort to their beach. He knows we had to get an early start to be one of the few they let in daily. He perched himself on the porch railing to gain faster internet (We are using our phones tethering for service) refusing to leave claiming people are the internet were posting wrong information and he had to stay to correct them. Honestly, he said people reading misinformation would pass on misinformation and the entire world will be stupid. He is bent on saving the world on post at a time. I asked him what if his point of view is wrong. Oh, he is never wrong he states, he has the internet to back him up, lol, the internet never lies. He did not get the parody.

When he was a little guy I told him he was the smartest boy. He believed me. Than the kid scored 90% on his AFQT for the ASFAB. There is no reasoning with him. He is All Knowing. What good is knowing everything I ask him if you are going to be cocky making everyone ignore you. Ha, that is their problem not his. He is an ornery sort. A loving, caring, mean well type of guy but his delivery could use some finesse.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Crusoe

He perched himself on the porch railing to gain faster internet (We are using our phones tethering for service) refusing to leave claiming people are the internet were posting wrong information and he had to stay to correct them.

Ha! Show him this cartoon from XKCD. It's a classic... xkcd: Duty Calls

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Kimberly, I'll send you a PM to discuss details.

[Crusoe]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Ha! Show him this cartoon from XKCD. It's a classic... xkcd: Duty Calls

Almost perfect representation. The kid the other day discovered he could log on using our neighbors unsecured wifi. The best reception was in our BATHROOM!!!!. He actually set up a nest in the BATHROOM with his computer rearranging the living room by confiscating furniture to make himself comfy in the BATHROOM. Then he complained when someone needed to use HIS space. I raised this boy proper, I thought. When he walked toward the BATHROOM with a bowl of cereal he was promptly evicted. Add a commode to the comic that would be Andrew!

Yes, caps were necessary. LoL. BTW he tells me no adult uses LoL. The boy is all kinds of wonder.

[Crusoe]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Kimberly, I'll send you a PM to discuss details.

Got it. We travel in similar paths. Even our cars are in the same state I miss my car.

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by Crusoe

Recently a family member decided he wants to train for triathlons using the volcano's altitude.

I am a former triathlete, live permanently at 7200' +, have ascended many 14ers and spoken to people who come here to train at an 'elite' level, so perhaps I can shed some light on the facts from a 1st person perspective.

There are a lot of misconceptions about training at altitude, mostly having to do with thinking that as you get more and more acclimated to it, your ability to perform at a lower elevation increases at the same time. Not true. Training at altitude can help boost your vo2-max (the amount of oxygen your blood can transport & process) but that's only for a limited period, which needs to be timed to peak for a certain event.

As for the brain-damage study... There are problems associated with ascending too high too quickly, so it's something you want to avoid. The most common problem is AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), symptoms for which include light-headedness, dizziness, fatigue and nausea, among others. But it's usually relatively minor and non-permanent as long as you head back down before too long. If anyone is getting brain damage on the way yo Mauna Kea, my guess is either they're banging their heads on the laval rock or they went scuba diving the day before (which is a major non-no, as any diver can tell you). If people are hiking or running up there, there may be some cases of HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema). HACE is a severe and frequently fatal form of altitude sickness. The dangers of HACE are compounded by the tendency of its victims to deny having any problems at all. It is easily preventable since it almost always occurs after rigorous ascent in an AMS condition and is remedied by going back down. But it's highly unlikely that HACE or other severe forms of altitude sickness would occur in anyone driving up the volcano, unless maybe they have a specific condition beforehand.

[Snikt]

This sounds pretty bogus, Colorado has much higher average elevations and I've never heard any mention of this, even in the mountaineering circles. We have permanent towns at 10,000FT and a lot of people frequently hike to 12-14K feet with no issues.

There's a condition called HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) which is very serious form of altitude sickness, but that typically happens in extreme elevations above 25,000FT.

You might get some form of altitude sickness if you drive right from sea level to the summit of Mauna Kea, or from Denver to Pikes Peak right after you fly in, but no brain injury.