• BMJ · Apr 2004

    Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial

    Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled comparison of ginkgo biloba and acetazolamide for prevention of acute mountain sickness among Himalayan trekkers: the prevention of high altitude illness trial (PHAIT).

    • Jeffrey H Gertsch, Buddha Basnyat, E William Johnson, Janet Onopa, and Peter S Holck.
    • Department of Internal Medicine, Maricopa Medical Center, 2601 E Roosevelt Avenue number O-D-10, Phoenix, AZ 85008, USA. jeffgertsch@hotmail.com
    • BMJ. 2004 Apr 3; 328 (7443): 797.

    ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of ginkgo biloba, acetazolamide, and their combination as prophylaxis against acute mountain sickness.DesignProspective, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial.SettingApproach to Mount Everest base camp in the Nepal Himalayas at 4280 m or 4358 m and study end point at 4928 m during October and November 2002.Participants614 healthy western trekkers (487 completed the trial) assigned to receive ginkgo, acetazolamide, combined acetazolamide and ginkgo, or placebo, initially taking at least three or four doses before continued ascent.Main Outcome MeasuresIncidence measured by Lake Louise acute mountain sickness score > or = 3 with headache and one other symptom. Secondary outcome measures included blood oxygen content, severity of syndrome (Lake Louise scores > or = 5), incidence of headache, and severity of headache.ResultsGinkgo was not significantly different from placebo for any outcome; however participants in the acetazolamide group showed significant levels of protection. The incidence of acute mountain sickness was 34% for placebo, 12% for acetazolamide (odds ratio 3.76, 95% confidence interval 1.91 to 7.39, number needed to treat 4), 35% for ginkgo (0.95, 0.56 to 1.62), and 14% for combined ginkgo and acetazolamide (3.04, 1.62 to 5.69). The proportion of patients with increased severity of acute mountain sickness was 18% for placebo, 3% for acetazoalmide (6.46, 2.15 to 19.40, number needed to treat 7), 18% for ginkgo (1, 0.52 to 1.90), and 7% for combined ginkgo and acetazolamide (2.95, 1.30 to 6.70).ConclusionsWhen compared with placebo, ginkgo is not effective at preventing acute mountain sickness. Acetazolamide 250 mg twice daily afforded robust protection against symptoms of acute mountain sickness.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…