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Surviving Above the CloudsAwake!—2004 | March 8
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What to Expect
The way Doug felt on arriving high in the Andes is typical. He says: “When handling our suitcases at the airport, I suddenly felt dizzy and nearly fainted. Although that soon passed, for the first week or two, I suffered from headaches and disturbed sleep. I would suddenly wake up with the feeling that I was suffocating. Then, for a couple of months, I had little appetite, tired easily, and needed more sleep.” Katty adds: “I used to think that all the talk about altitude problems was in people’s imagination. Now I know it isn’t.”
Doctors call the disturbed sleep that Doug experienced periodic breathing. It is common among people who have recently arrived at high altitude. But if it happens to you, you might call it scary. From time to time, while asleep, you may actually stop breathing for several seconds. At times, this might make you suddenly wake up, gasping for breath.
Some people have no problem at all after arriving in the altitude. A number of people experience unpleasant reactions at 6,000 feet [2,000 m], as do about half of newcomers at 10,000 feet [3,000 m]. Interestingly, high-altitude natives returning home after only a week or two in the lowlands often experience the same reactions. Why?
Why Altitude Affects Your Body
Most of the problems are caused by lack of oxygen. Because the atmospheric pressure is lower the higher you go, at 6,500 feet [2,000 m] above sea level, a given volume of air contains some 20 percent less oxygen, and at 13,000 feet [4,000 m], air contains 40 percent less oxygen. Lack of oxygen affects most of your bodily functions. Your muscles can do less work, your nervous system can take less stress, and your digestive system cannot handle fat as well. Normally when your body needs more oxygen, you automatically breathe more heavily and fill the need. Then why doesn’t this happen when you arrive at a high altitude?
Just how your body controls your rate of breathing is a wonder that is not completely understood. But when you exert yourself, heavy breathing is not triggered simply by lack of oxygen. Rather, the carbon dioxide buildup in the blood produced by the muscle activity seems to be a key factor in making you breathe more. You do breathe more heavily when at a higher altitude but not enough to compensate for the persistent oxygen shortage.
What causes the headaches? A speaker at the First World Congress of High Altitude Medicine and Physiology, held in La Paz, Bolivia, explained that many of the symptoms of mountain sickness result from an accumulation of fluid in the brain. In some people this causes pressure inside the head. Apparently, because of the size of their cranium, some people do not experience these effects. Nevertheless, in rare cases a life-threatening condition can develop. Loss of muscular control, blurred vision, hallucinations, and mental confusion are signs that warn you to seek medical help immediately and get down to a lower altitude.
Wise Precautions
The effects of high altitude reach their peak about the second or third day, so a few days before and after arrival, it is best to take only light meals, especially at night. After arrival, you should eat carbohydrates, such as rice, oats, and potatoes, rather than fatty foods. You may do well to pay attention to the advice, “Eat breakfast like a king, but eat supper like a beggar.” Also, avoid physical exertion, as it can bring on a bad attack of mountain sickness. Perhaps because young people tend to disregard this advice, they are often the ones who suffer most.
“Slip on a hat, and slop on some sunblock cream” is good advice here too, since there is less atmosphere to protect you from the dangerous rays of the sun. Those rays can irritate or even damage your eyes, so use good sunglasses. The thin mountain air also dries up your tears, causing further eye irritation. The advice is to drink plenty of fluids.
Doctors have warned people who are seriously overweight or who have such conditions as high blood pressure, sickle-cell anemia, or heart or lung disease to have a careful medical evaluation before deciding on a trip above the clouds.a If you have a bad cold, bronchitis, or pneumonia, it may be wise to delay your trip, since high altitude together with a respiratory infection or heavy physical exercise can sometimes cause a dangerous buildup of fluid in the lungs. Respiratory complaints can cause even lifelong highlanders to become oxygen starved and experience serious health problems. On the other hand, asthmatics often feel better living higher up. In fact, a group of Russian doctors reported to the First World Congress of High Altitude Medicine and Physiology that they take patients with certain complaints to a high altitude clinic as therapy.
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Surviving Above the CloudsAwake!—2004 | March 8
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a Some doctors prescribe acetazolamide to stimulate breathing at very high altitudes. Other drugs for mountain sickness are advertised, but not all doctors recommend them.
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