How to avoid altitude sickness in the high mountains
Let me tell you a little about myself. I am 26. I grew up in East Cornwall; my parents ran their own business. Their business sold fuel saving devices for cars that were highly magnetic- that’s the devices that were magnetic, not the cars obviously. Over time some of the distributors who indirectly worked for the company selling the products began to notice that the dodgy knees, bad hips and other complaints they had been carrying around for years seemed to be feeling a lot better when they had been carrying the devices around in their pockets. This prompted my father to do some research.
Magnetic therapy, or magnotherapy, was nothing new, in fact its roots can be traced back to ancient china, but this represented an important milestone in the development and increasing popularity of magnotherapy in this country. His research into and increased understanding of the complex biophysical interactions between living cells and magnetic fields led to him receiving the prestigious BT Award for Innovation, while his magnotherapy company appeared twice in the Sunday Times/Virgin list of Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies. His original CRP magnet module became the world’s leading magnotherapy product and remains the only magnetic bracelet to complete a successful clinical trial under an approved medical protocol.
Though I heard many stories and examples of the products helping people and animals (including a male elephant at Whipsnade Safari Park who was not able to fulfil his duties as part of the park’s breeding program because of a bad back. After a jumbo sized magnetic strap was made, he was able to continue, much to the delight of the keepers and lady elephants) I never had any experiences of their benefits myself. That was until last year when I travelled to India.
I began my four month trip to India in the far north. I flew from Delhi to Leh, the largest town in the ancient former kingdom of Ladakh, a beautiful Buddhist region with its own unique culture nestled high in the Himalayas close to the Chinese border. It is in fact, the highest inhabited place in the world.
As you can imagine, flying directly from Delhi, averaging around 250 metres above sea level, to Leh, 3500 metres above sea level, is quite an adjustment for the body to handle, and most people suffer from altitude sickness to some degree when they arrive. I made three friends quite quickly when I arrived.
Of the three of us, I was the only one who did not have to put themselves to bed with a pounding headache, and I, of course, was wearing one of the magnetic bracelets sold by my father’s old company, which he had by now sold. One of my new friends was suffering so badly after during the first two days that after a glass of mint tea (supposedly good for the stomach) she was physically sick in the street. I lent her my magnetic bracelet, and in the morning she felt much better.
During a tough mountain trek a few days later, our entire party (besides our local guides) were suffering terrible from headaches and nausea after a very tough day’s trek. I however, whilst not without symptoms, was the only one who felt well enough to sit with our guides and eat dinner.
A new and improved design has now been produced, and represents a further development of the theories that made the earlier design so effective, successful and popular. It may not be the first thing that comes tom mind when you are deciding on equipment for your next adventure, but perhaps it should be on the list.