Dr. John J. Fosbinder is an emergency medicine physician based in Bakersfield, California who has interests in emergency ultrasound, wilderness medicine, and altitude medicine. Altitude medicine treats conditions that occur at high elevations like high-altitude illness, which can cause symptoms from headaches to life-threatening pulmonary edema or cerebral edema if the body is forced to acclimate too quickly to increased altitude. High-altitude pulmonary edema and cerebral edema commonly affect young males during strenuous activity before full acclimation and people with lung or heart conditions are also at greater risk.

1. John Fosbinder

2. Based in Bakersfield, California, Dr. John J. Fosbinder is a board-certified emergency
medicine physician and an adjunct assistant professor of emergency medicine at A.T. Still
University. Dr. John “Joe” Fosbinder holds professional interests in the areas of emergency
ultrasound and wilderness and altitude medicine.
Altitude medicine is used to treat medical conditions that occur at high elevations, including
high-altitude illness (HAI), a collection of altitude-related conditions. HAI occurs as altitude
increases and air pressure decreases, and results in the insufficient delivery of oxygen to the
body’s tissues due to a lack of oxygen available in the air. As the body attempts to acclimate
to increased altitude, the breathing rate increases and results in an abnormally high blood
pH level. If the body is forced to acclimate too quickly, a range of symptoms can develop.

3. Mild symptoms associated with altitude illness include headache, nausea, vomiting,
and lightheadedness. Symptoms can progress to an emergency medical situation if
fluid accumulates in the lungs, causing high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), or if
fluid accumulates in the brain, causing high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE).
HAPE and HACE, both types of HAI, most commonly occur in young males engaged
in strenuous activity before becoming properly acclimated to higher altitudes. People
with certain medical conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and
congestive heart failure, are also at a greater risk of developing HAI.