Hypoxia and Medicine

Can oxygen be used in high altitudes to reduce a sickle cell crisis?

I asked this once before with no response. For a person with sickle cell, since their bodies red blood don't store oxygen well and they can pass out at high altitude, would it then make sense that use of oxygen could prevent this? I'm thinking starting out at a high rate then gradually lowering it while the body adapts to the higher altitude.

Public Comments

1. It certainly can't hurt. A sickle cell crisis is often initiated when the red cells have a reduced oxygen content, which causes them to sickle. However, in my opinion, you would need a constant supply of supplemental oxygen to avoid a crisis.