High Altitude - Understanding its effects .....

[spindrift]

on blood metabolism.

Here is news of a recent discovery as to why Tibetans and Sherpas are accustomed and adapted to living (thriving) at high altitude (over 4,000m).

www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jul/02/mutation-gene-tibetans-altitude

I am interested in this subject because whenever I get the chance I fly off to the high Himalayas and undertake long treks at high altitude. If you read the article you'll see that the Tibetan plateau is at 4,000m so if you're trekking up to and onto it you can be sure you'll feel the effects of forty per cent less oxygen in the air. I had no idea the figure was so high. No wonder I'm like a gasping fish clambering over endless 15,000ft mountain passes with a constant low-grade headache 24/7.

We have been told that when our bodies adapt to high altitude our bone marrow will produce extra amounts of haemoglobin in blood cells, and make extra cells as well. But I did not know that it takes at least 3 weeks before this mechanism swings into action. Not that many treks go on for that long and one is always hoping to feel better (without a headache) but to no avail.

Sherpas and Tibetans have always seemed little fazed by the lack of oxygen and by the end of the day their task is to drag us protesting (and sometimes prostrate) foreigners to journey's end. Now I can understand why they are so sprightly. Bless them. They are born with the mechanism to cope with lack of oxygen. I wonder does this apply to the unfortunate mules and horses in the area. I'm pretty sure that the yak is born with the same mutation since they only live healthy lives at altitudes over 10,000ft and become diseased if they live lower.. Of course they never live lower.

So what I'm thinking is that before an arduous trek, I should go and live at a gentle 9,000ft for 2/3 weeks and start off when my blood cell count is increasing. Funny - but in the past I often felt I should do this and try to escape the headache business.

This would also mean that I could ride a tibetan horse at speed on the plateau...I've tried galloping before but my brain, being swollen with liquid, used to thud against my skull. Yes, I could feel it. I thought it might be dangerous to persist so I told the horse to walk instead.

[Deleted]

I was reading somewhere (already forgot where), that changes in altitude have provoked the most rapid evolutionary changes in species -- in just a few thousand years instead of tens of thousands of years. Clearly one must adapt as fast as possible if one hopes to survive at high altitudes.

[bixaorellana]

I thought that acclimating to a higher altitude before facing a really high one was accepted procedure.

Athletes sometimes go to a higher altitude to train in order to build up lung power and stamina.

[Deleted]

Ha ha, the French football team did that before the World Cup. It was really effective!

[spindrift]

Yes, Bixa, acclimatizing to high altitudes is standard procedure. Most people 'acclimatize' for not more than TWO nights at, say, 9,000ft and then only ascend 1,000ft per 24 hours. If they feel ill they have to descend.

However I'd like to give myself a much longer period of time to truly acclimatize - such as the 3 weeks at altitude before the trek higher starts. That way I wouldn't have a constant headache and slight feeling of nausea.

Those to wish to climb the highest mountains, such as Everest and K2 , usually spend two months or so acclimatizing themselves at their Base Camps....17,000ft at Everest, I think....and this way when they go for the summit they are truly producing extra red blood cells with more capacity for carrying oxygen.

[bixaorellana]

I can't imagine that two nights would be nearly enough.

The first time I visited Patzcuaro (7100 ft), I was living in coastal Texas at sea level. I did not get headaches, but the slightest bit of uphill was really difficult for me, plus I had insomnia. The next time I visited there, I'd been living in Oaxaca (5080 ft) for several years and had no trouble.

[spindrift]

What I meant was that two nights is the very minimum before ascending higher. I'm thinking of how things are done on the Everest trek. Trekkers usually fly into Lukla rather than tediously climb up to Lukla from the plains. Lukla is at 9,000ft. The path towards Everest (only one main path for all) winds miles through the Kumbu mountains and goes through the town of Namche Bazaar which is at 12,000ft. Namche is actually only a day's fast walk from Lukla but it's dangerous to ascend immediately, indeed many people who have ignored the high altitude warnings have died in their first night's sleep up there. So the general recommendation is to sleep 'down at 9,500ft' for 2 nights. This is the minimum. Of course you are quite right, two nights is not enough. I felt very ill (nausea) on ascending even after two nights 'down'. I'd like to have a lot of time, and enough money, to take my time on these high altitude treks and acclimatize slowly and gently.
I can well believe that having lived at 5,000ft feet for several years that your blood metabolism had adapted.

[Deleted]

It's kind of strange to think that both deep sea divers and high altitude climbers have to completely adjust to conditions before changing levels. What weak creatures we are!