Altitude

[JamieBeverly]

Is 9000 feet to high for a child with Sickle Cell Trait.?

[bluebug]

I wouldn't go suddenly up to 9,000 in an unpressurised cabin as an adult.

What are you planning on doing? Sky diving? As everything depends on context.

[JamieBeverly in reply to bluebug]

No The other family wants to take my two twin 8 yr old daughters mountain climbing. They have sickle cell trait as they get it from me. I know that I can’t exercise, run etc.. it very hard for me to do as well as I feel like I can’t breath after a real heart felt exercise. I’m not so sure mountain climbing is something I’m open to letting my children do out in Colorado.

[bluebug in reply to JamieBeverly]

SCT is different from SCD.

If they are symptomless then doing exercise if well hydrated is no problem and should be encouraged as they are far more likely to die from diseases linked to inactivity when older than anything else. There are US sports people and armed service people with trait, and it's dehydration and/or not being in control of their exercise that causes the problems.

This means if your girls take their time to get up the mountain of that height they should be fine. If there are other kids who are younger/same age going who are not fit then they won't be pushed to get up the mountain faster.

If they rush up - like people without the trait - they can get mountain sickness due not being use to the altitude. However mountain sickness would be worse for them than for those without the trait.

There are mountains they can't go up to without oxygen e.g. Mount Everest, but 9,000ft is easily doable without if time is taken.

Btw unlike the diver below I've heard of someone with SCT have decompression problems due to diving. A friend of mine, a consultant paediatrician, was checking whether I could go diving years ago and this case popped up in the UK news. (The Sickle Cell Society, who run this forum, is a UK based charity.) Due to the lack of decompression chambers around the world it was decided it was a risk not worth taking.

[AD_Ward9 in reply to bluebug]

On diving, of course, divers do have a risk of decompression sickness. However, there is no evidence of any increase in risk for someone with SCT.

Around 6 million people a year participate in diving. Many thousands of those will have SCT. SCT is not screened for, when performing diving medicals, nor is there any reason to screen for it if it is not correlated with higher risk.

DAN support decompression chambers around the world. They are in most countries, though in some remote regions it can take a while to get to one. BSAC normal dive practice is to check where the chamber is before diving, and check it is available before diving.

[321Peace21]

That is very high and could trigger an sickle cell crisis or cause him or her to have other problems with sickle cell trait. Being to high can cause problems be sure to take necessary precautions because sickle cell trait is a Blood disorder that can effect each individual differently.

[AD_Ward9]

You said your child had sickle cell trait (SCT), not sickle cell disease (SCD).

Commercial aircraft are pressurised to the equivalent of 5000ft to 7000ft (the FAA requires it to be under 8,000ft). The pressure at 8,000ft is 74% of the pressure at sea level, and for 6,000ft in a typical plane, it is 80%.

Hundreds of millions of people have sickle cell trait, fly regularly, and some with SCT engage in parachuting and diving. In diving, pressure changes are very much greater than on a plane (both in magnitude and ratiometrically).

I have never known or heard reported, any increase in DCS (Decompression Syndrome) of a person with sickle cell trait nor of anyone with SCT suffering a crisis after diving. Fatigue after diving is common, and a sign of mild DCS, but divers with SCT seem to have it no better or worse than normal divers.

Obviously, a person with Sickle Cell Disease should not go diving, parachuting or mountain climbing. A person with just SCT (trait, i.e. a single recessive carrier gene) does not have these restrictions other than they should avoid extreme exertion, especially if the weather is hot.

So bottom line, if you only have the trait, do whatever you like and enjoy life. Your child can do the same. A person has to be 16 for parachuting in most countries, and diving is not recommended until the child is fully grown (PADI is one agency that certifies child divers, but it is a bad idea as decompression is particularly stressful to growing bone tissue - I would not let any of my children dive under the age of 21).

NB: It is hard on forum to tell who is who. Beware of advice on forum and the internet unless the author discloses what they are qualified in. I have 39 years of diving experience, heavily involved with dive safety and physiology. I am certified to 100m Expedition diving, on rebreathers and open circuit. I am aware of the studies of temporary sickling of SCT army recruits under heavy exercise and the increase in sudden mortality of SCT recruits. I have decades of experience in decompression algorithm validation. I also used to enjoy parachuting and flying.