IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i2p284-d1591489.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Is New in Altitude- and Cold-Related Illnesses of Travel: Appraisal and Summary of the Updated Guidelines from the Wilderness Medical Society

Author

Listed:
  • Arghavan Omidi

    (Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1G6, Canada)

  • Gregory D. Hawley

    (Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada)

  • Dylan Kain

    (Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada
    Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR 97239-3098, USA)

  • Farah Jazuli

    (Department of Medicine, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8L 2X2, Canada)

  • Milca Meconnen

    (Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada)

  • Mark Polemidiotis

    (Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada
    School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, D02 YN77 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Nam Phuong Do

    (Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada)

  • Olamide Egbewumi

    (Tropical Disease Unit, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON M5G 2C4, Canada)

  • Andrea K. Boggild

    (Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada
    Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada
    Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H2, Canada
    Tropical Disease Unit, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON M5G 2C4, Canada)

Abstract

Wilderness medicine is a rapidly evolving field and has benefited from expanded research efforts. Moreover, with an escalating occurrence of severe and cataclysmic global climatologic events, human illness arising from interaction with wilderness and recreational environments warrants increasing consideration. Within the last decade, the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) has aggregated research findings and created guidelines on prevention measures and therapeutic options for acute altitude illness, frostbite injuries, and avalanche and non-avalanche snow burials. As new research emerges, some guidelines have been updated to reflect the most current and sound scientific conclusions. In this review, we have synthesized the evidence-based guidelines and have reviewed the quality of the guidelines according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II framework. Further research efforts can expand the scope of evidence-based practice in travel medicine and ideally standardize the implementation of recommendations within both pre-travel and post-travel medical practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Arghavan Omidi & Gregory D. Hawley & Dylan Kain & Farah Jazuli & Milca Meconnen & Mark Polemidiotis & Nam Phuong Do & Olamide Egbewumi & Andrea K. Boggild, 2025. "What Is New in Altitude- and Cold-Related Illnesses of Travel: Appraisal and Summary of the Updated Guidelines from the Wilderness Medical Society," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(2), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:284-:d:1591489
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/284/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/284/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manuel Genswein & Darryl Macias & Scott McIntosh & Ingrid Reiweger & Audun Hetland & Peter Paal, 2022. "AvaLife—A New Multi-Disciplinary Approach Supported by Accident and Field Test Data to Optimize Survival Chances in Rescue and First Aid of Avalanche Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Alexandre Kottmann & Mathieu Pasquier & Giacomo Strapazzon & Ken Zafren & John Ellerton & Peter Paal, 2021. "Quality Indicators for Avalanche Victim Management and Rescue," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-9, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:284-:d:1591489. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.