Acetazolamide medication may decrease the incidence of adverse altitude effects on normal healthy adults as well as COPD patients, recommends a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The research team said that they had conducted several trials to find that altitude-related adverse health effects (ARAHE) occured in 76 percent of COPD patients administered with placebo as compared to 49 percent receiving acetazolamide. The trials also established the safety and efficacy of the drug, with no significant adverse events being reported. The researchers concluded that Acetazolamide cut the danger in half, had very few side effects and “thus more practical than oxygen treatment. At 3100 m, acetazolamide reduced the risk of AMS by about one-third compared to placebo; acetazolamide lowered the risk of AMS by about one-third.”