Retiring to Mexico? Think About High Altitude Sickness

Have you ever wondered what some of these slick and mendacious online magazines are leaving out when they tell you all your troubles will be over if you take their "how-to-move-to-Mexico" course (for a small fortune) and maybe even buy some of their listed properties? I recently read a pitch from this magazine that named Zacatecas as the next San Miguel de Allende. The magazine stated that this wonderful colonial Mexican town of 300,000 is as San Miguel de Allende was 15 years ago. These sorts of articles will bring in the Gringos with money faster than almost anything else. What this magazine did not mention was: altitude.

Depending which source you use for statistics, you will find the altitude of Zacatecas listed anywhere from 7,000 to 8,200 feet. Altitude sickness symptoms begin at 8,000 feet.

Altitude sickness, or mountain sickness, is an actual illness caused by low air pressure. It usually strikes at and above elevations of 8,000 feet. The reason you don't suffer this ailment in an airplane flying at 33,000 feet is because you are in a pressurized cabin. Acute altitude sickness can be a very serious thing that can lead to something called High Altitude Cerebral Edema or HACE. This is when your brain fills with fluids causing such severe symptoms that if not treated, can lead to death. This can occur after a few hours of exposure to the high altitude or can develop as much as a week or more after initial exposure.

As if this isn't serious enough, altitude sickness can cause High Altitude Pulmonary Edema or HAPE, a major cause of death related to high altitude sickness. This is more common than HACE and can strike some individuals at elevations of 4,421 feet.

Your susceptibility to altitude sickness can be difficult to predict. There is, of course, the issue of acclimatization as well as some genetic factors. Some people lack a certain enzyme that predisposes them to suffering altitude sickness.

Symptoms of Altitude Sickness

A severe headache accompanied by insomnia, a general sense of malaise, loss of appetite, and dizziness accompanied by vomiting are signs you are in trouble.

Climbers have traditionally used an axiom for treating this condition: Climb high, sleep low. This is a process that requires staying at a base camp for a few days before attempting a sharp ascent. They make a climb but return to the lower base camp for sleeping. Eventually, through a slow process, the base camp is placed at increasingly higher elevations for sleep while the climber makes higher and higher ascents. He continues to sleep at the lower base camp's elevation until he is used to the lower oxygen levels at increasingly higher altitudes.

But, how you can manage this when vacationing in Zacatecas to check it out as the "next San Miguel de Allende" requires a different strategy. For some, avoiding overeating, avoiding alcohol for the first few days, walking extremely slowly, and not engaging in strenuous activities are enough. However, there are instances in some individuals where no matter what one does, the person is not able to thrive at such a high altitude.

Health Warnings

The U.S. State Department issues warnings that if you suffer from the following conditions, you may very well find yourself in a situation where you are going to have to be evacuated for medical reasons from a high altitude of 8,000 feet or more:

Sickle Cell Anemia or Sickle Cell Trait: About 30% of those with this illness are vulnerable to high altitude sickness.

Heart Disease: Anyone with any sort of heart disease is at risk at ascending altitudes.

Lung Disease: If you are afflicted with emphysema or severe asthma, you should reconsider relocating at high altitudes at which anyone is susceptible to altitude sickness (remember that magic number: 8,000 feet or more).

Just the other day, some friends told me about another couple they know who had to leave Zacatecas because of altitude sickness. The couple moved there but the wife could not adjust. She became seriously ill and they had to leave the area. Apparently, no matter what they tried or how long they would have stayed, she was too ill and would never acclimate. She may have suffered from Chronic Mountain Sickness or Monge's Disease. This is where your acclimatization to high altitudes actually wears off after long exposure.

Honesty

What I would love to know is why you do not see this mentioned in the literature and seminars that try to entice you to Mexico with promises of Nirvanas and Shangri-la's? (Have you ever looked up the word Nirvana? A place or state of oblivion to care, pain, or external reality; a goal hoped for but apparently unattainable.) This is not some cultural bugaboo you can survive easily. It isn't some weird cultural affectation that you eventually grow accustomed to.

It is an issue that could kill you. These article-writers and seminar-givers leave out this little fact when they say Zacatecas is The Next San Miguel de Allende. They know that saying this is going to attract real estate investors and buyers-like a Gold Rush! However, leaving out this potentially life-threatening information isn't just dishonest.

It is unethical!