Science Paper

You’re climbing up Mount Everest and suddenly cough up frothy, blood-tinged, sputum or pussy, mucous-filled saliva. You think that you just aren’t feeling well but then you see stars floating around your head. You tell your teammate and he says that you have a disease called HAPE. HAPE has many different names. HAPE stands for High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema. It can also be identified as Altitude sickness. HAPE is a life-threatening disease caused on high-altitudes. 10% of people who ascend over 4,500 meters get HAPE, and 1 to 2% of people get it with gradual descent. 50% of people with HAPE also contract AMS or atypical measles syndrome. Atypical Measles Syndrome is basically just everyday measles. But when mixed with HAPE, it can be very life threatening. HAPE can worsen with stress of the body. Most people with HAPE have small lungs, and higher pulmonary artery pressure. Your teammate radios Base Camp and explains your condition. The Base Camp Manager wants to make sure you have HAPE and starts asking your teammate questions as you descend with him. You slowly begin your descent and feel the need for more oxygen. You tell your teammate and he ignores you and rushes you down the mountain even faster.
HAPE is caused when the pressure in the lungs increases and the oxygen decreases. It usually occurs when you climb too fast above 8,000 feet. Most climbers train there lungs to be able to get enough oxygen at high-altitudes. But some do not and can receive an even deadlier variation of HAPE. HAPE occurs when the pulmonary artery contracts. As it contracts the pressure in the alveoli, or air sacs, rises. The pressure allows fluid from the pulmonary artery go from the alveoli into the lungs. Mostly when people get HAPE, it occurs on the second night of ascent and only occurs for four more days. Your teammate asks you questions on what your symptoms are. He asks you if you are confused, feeling dizzy, having trouble breathing, feeling fatigued, having trouble sleeping, getting headaches, coughing heavily, chest congestion, if you’re gurgling, if your heart is beating extra fast, if you’ve thrown up, had a fever, or if you have gray lips or fingernails. These are all major symptoms of HAPE. If you say yes to two of the symptoms, you should descend rapidly. To all of these questions you manage to utter the word yes before you collapse. HAPE can cause comas or even death. HAPE may not seem very serious, but it is fatal. You barely manage to hear your teammate tell the manager what just happened. HAPE usually raises the pulmonary blood pressure in hikers and climbers. Nausea will usually occur in 20% of people who climb over 8,000 feet. To help prevent HAPE, climbers will usually use a mixture of oxygen and air. The only cure for HAPE is rapid descent and to drink extra water. Delay is usually fatal. Pressurized cabins in airplanes make sure that when you’re flying you don’t get HAPE. To help prevent HAPE you shouldn’t smoke, drink alcohol and carbonated beverages, and do not ascend more than 2,000 feet per day. You should pause for one day at 7,000 feet to allow your lungs to accumulate to the lack of oxygen. There are many drugs that may be able to cure HAPE but doesn’t mean that they actually work, but if you do need to take something to cure it, doctors recommend either Diamox or Dexamethasone. HAPE can also be cured with athsma medication. Everybody who’s had HAPE before say that you should stay warm at all costs. HAPE can usually be prevented by slow ascent. Young climbers tend to get HAPE more frequently than older climbers. HAPE is common in mountain climbers and hikers only. You have a rare chance of getting HAPE in the U.S. The only place in the U.S you might be able to receive HAPE is if you climb the Rocky Mountains or the Appalachian Mountains. The lack of oxygen from HAPE causes excess water to fill the lungs.
There have not been many people researching HAPE because it is such a rare disease. A French Physiologist named Paul Bert discovered HAPE in 1878. HAPE is such a rare disease and so fatal that there is only one cure, Rapid Descent. But even with rapid descent, there is still a 10 to 15% chance that HAPE will be fatal.
HAPE is a very rare but interesting disease. Did you know there was something called LAPE or Low-altitude pulmonary edema? It occurs when people living at high altitudes descend too fast. It’s the complete opposite of HAPE. Another interesting fact of HAPE is that when doctors examine the lungs of a person carrying the disease, they can see crackles or crevasses in the lungs. That usually means the lungs are dry but, remember the lungs are full of fluid. A strange but true fact. Another cool fact about HAPE is that it is often confused with bronchitis, pneumonia and the Khumbu Cough(aka High Altitude Hack). There are thousands of questions about HAPE that have yet to be answered by scientists. HAPE is just one of those rare diseases that you here in the newspapers that someone’s discovered a new disease, but in real life, it’s is not just a rare disease in the newspaper, it’s just basic science.
BAILEY RAST