People exposed to high altitudes often experience somatic symptoms triggered by hypoxia, such as breathlessness, palpitations, dizziness, headache, and insomnia. Most of the symptoms are identical to those reported in panic attacks or severe anxiety. Potential causal links between adaptation to altitude and anxiety are apparent in all three leading models of panic, namely, hyperventilation (hypoxia leads to hypocapnia), suffocation false alarms (hypoxia counteracted to some extent by hypocapnia), and cognitive misinterpretations (symptoms from hypoxia and hypocapnia interpreted as dangerous). Furthermore, exposure to high altitudes produces respiratory disturbances during sleep in normals similar to those in panic disorder at low altitudes.People are known to get altitude sickness from airplane flights:
Although the cabin altitude in modern passenger aircraft is kept to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) or lower, some passengers on long-haul flights may experience some symptoms of altitude sickness.[8]and the cabin pressure cutoff is right at the standard altitude illness threshold:
Altitude sickness—also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS), altitude illness, hypobaropathy, "The altitude bends", or soroche—is a pathological effect of high altitude on humans, caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude. It commonly occurs above 2,400 metres (8,000 feet).[1][2]If this is what's going on, White should have other problems beyond the symptoms of anxiety disorder that are associated with altitude illness. The first one I looked for was migraine, because altitude illness is associated with brain swelling, and when the brain swells, it can press against the skull and produce a classic symptom of migraine, scotoma and fortification illusion:
After Friday's match up with the Grizzlies it was reported that Royce White was out indefinitely with migraines. On Saturday Royce tweeted the following:Instead of counseling, White, the Rockets and his doctors should first try treating him for altitude illness, probably starting with Diamox:
For the record, I'm not injured... Not even a little bit. #Truth
— Royce White (@Highway_30) November 11, 2012
Prior to Friday's game, Royce had been repeatedly on the inactive list alongside Scott Machado. There is something going on with Royce White's situation that the Rockets front office is desperately trying to bury.
The drug acetazolamide may help some people making a rapid ascent to sleeping altitude above 2,700 metres (9,000 ft), and it may also be effective if started early in the course of AMS.[18] The Everest Base Camp Medical Centre cautions against its routine use as a substitute for a reasonable ascent schedule, except where rapid ascent is forced by flying into high altitude locations or due to terrain considerations.[19]I also think they could monitor the cabin pressure in their flights (which would be easy to do with the altimeter in the latest Samsung Galaxy cell phone) and offer to pay their airline to maintain a lower than usual cabin altitude and to make the transitions from one pressure level to another smoother and more gradual.
White is being fined every day he remains away from the team or fails to attend sessions with a therapist the Rockets have arranged for him, a person with knowledge of the situation said.*Sure, buddy. The Rockets are fining this guy for every practice he misses. They are definitely playing the blame game, just not over Twitter.
Q: I've heard Royce White, a current player of yours, has a major fear of flying. How have you handled this situation, and what will you do in the future when traveling far for away games?Could've sworn there was another question about how the Rockets were helping him but guess not. Might be further down because Morey answered a bunch of questions.
dmorey: Royce White has an issue with anxiety that is more common than people talk about and he has done a good job to bring awareness. It did not affect his ability to fly for games last year and we don't expect it to this year. It certainly did not affect him last year where he was unquestionably one of the top players in the country and the best player on the floor in the Kentucky-Iowa State NCAA tournament game.
do you think someone who cannot run should be accommodated enough to play in the NBA?The fact that you think it's as simple as not being able to run means that it's not me who's misguided here. He clearly can run, he clearly can play the game. He proved that in college. So why is that even being brought into the discussion?
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posted by ocherdraco at 10:18 AM on November 14, 2012