A new study by the Stanford University Medical Center reports that ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory medication that is used often as a painkiller, may prove effective at curbing the symptoms of acute mountain sickness.

"A really nasty hangover" is how Grant Lipman, MD, describes the feeling of acute mountain sickness, and for good reason: Symptoms can include headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and poor appetite.

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- People who took ibuprofen before, during and after ascending to a high altitude had significantly lower odds of developing acute mountain,

...don't climb too fast!

Former tennis champion Martina Navratilova was hospitalized for pulmonary edema—fluid build-up in the lungs—while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, drawing attention to the high risk of acute mountain sickness (AMS) and high altitude pulmonary edema among climbers of high peaks.