The Efficacy of Methazolamide Combined With Ibuprofen for Treating Acute Mountain Sickness

Aims: When entering a mountain plateau, people are at risk of developing acute mountain sickness (AMS), for which there are limited prophylactic medicines available. This study aimed at exploring the effectiveness of ibuprofen, acetazolamide, and methazolamide in preventing AMS and at providing valuable insights for the future development of related drugs.

Methods: A total of 137 mountaineers were recruited for this study and divided into six groups: a control group, an ibuprofen group, an acetazolamide group, a methazolamide group, an ibuprofen/methazolamide combination group, and a high-dose ibuprofen/methazolamide combination group. After the assigned drug was taken for three days at a lower elevation (300 m), the participants ascended to a plateau environment at 5050 m. The Lake Louise AMS Score (LLS) system was used to diagnose and evaluate the AMS rates of the mountaineers in each group, and the results were compared through statistical analysis.

Results: The results show that all the medications tested herein were effective in preventing AMS, but their level of effectiveness varied. The prevalence of AMS was 50.00% in the control group, 14.29% in the ibuprofen group, 5.56% in the acetazolamide group, 27.27% in the methazolamide group, 44.8% in the ibuprofen and methazolamide group, and 22.50% in the high-dose ibuprofen and methazolamide group. Acetazolamide demonstrated a significant prophylactic effect on symptoms related to AMS diagnosis, and ibuprofen showed the best efficacy for preventing headache.

Conclusion: Acetazolamide remains an effective medicine for preventing AMS. Ibuprofen combined with methazolamide is less effective than ibuprofen alone to prevent AMS.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: ChiCTR-TRC-12002219