Is Travelling To High Altitude Advisable For An Elderly Woman?

Posted on Sat, 23 Jul 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 Answered on

Sat, 13 Aug 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : My mother lives at low altitude and wants to travel to 7000 feet. She is significantly symptomatic. At age 94 her dr does not recommend treatment.. Is the travel advisable?

Very large concern is her driving...We are trying with huge opposition to get her keys. Your help here?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (29 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
If she symptomatic, then travel is a clear no.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome to healthcaremagic.com. I understand your very reasonable and genuine concern for your mother.

The clear answer to your question is "NO". With such advanced age and when she is quite significantly symptomatic, it is a risk worth not taking.

And with such age, she better not be driving around.

Please do try and convince her not to drive and avoid travelling to any higher altitudes rapidly, she will have a very hard time acclimatizing to higher altitudes and it might very easily overwhelm her.

I hope this answers your query, please do feel free to write back to me if you have additional concerns.

All the best.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar