Index – Science – What happens to the human body at an altitude of 8,000 meters?

To date, about seven thousand people have climbed the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest at 8,848 meters (Csomolungma). Edmond Hillary And the Nepalese Tenzing Narkaj In 1953. But they had to wait until 1978 to reach the summit without oxygen bottles (Italian Reinhold Messner and Austrian Peter Habler), followed by 193 without oxygen bottles. In other words, 3 percent of climbers have never made it.

We can say that the reason for this is obvious, at such a height, the oxygen is too low for the human body to tolerate. But it’s not all that simple.

The human body is adapted to sea level, where the atmospheric pressure is 1 atmosphere (101,325 Pa) and the air is 21 percent oxygen (O2). Hemoglobin molecules in the blood, which carry oxygen from the lungs to the body’s organs, are ideal for such conditions. However, the oxygen content of the air becomes rarer with altitude and decreases exponentially.

Here is, and only a third of the highest peak in the world. The body actually takes in air (oxygen) when the blood thickens and the heart goes into turbo mode to increase oxygen transport to the cells.

Even 2500 may be too much

Many cannot bear such burdens. According to estimates, a quarter of the population cannot adapt to an altitude of 2,500 meters and suffer from altitude sickness. Headache and dizziness come, the body becomes weak, the blood vessels dilate, and the heart beats faster and faster. In severe cases, judgment may also be impaired, and unconsciousness is not uncommon, but coma and even death may occur. That too is only 2,500 meters high.

As we move up, the oxygen levels drop faster and faster, and symptoms can worsen. Medical science calls 5,500 meters as the lower limit of the extreme high altitude zone, where the risk of high-altitude cerebral edema and high-altitude pulmonary edema increases.

The climbers spent weeks acclimating their bodies to the unusual conditions before the summit attack.

As the more determined climb further up, the lower limit of the next zone can be reached at 8,000 meters.

The air pressure is only one-third that of sea level, and the amount of oxygen is also only one-third, which is so small that, according to current science, the body begins to use up its oxygen reserves. It is impossible to inhale enough from the air. That’s why you need an oxygen cylinder. According to reports, sleeping at such a height is almost impossible, digestion stops, and the risk of pulmonary or cerebral edema increases. If that doesn’t happen,

Judgment is impaired (resulting in poor decisions) and loss of consciousness can occur at any time. Death occurs almost daily above 8,000 meters, and high-altitude climbers also die in this zone.

Height is in their blood

However, the question arises: How can people survive on the highest part of the earth, the Tibetan Plateau with an average height of 4900 meters above sea level? How are they able to adapt to extreme environments from generation to generation?

Well, to the Tibetans and Sherpas who help and serve the mountaineers Their blood is thin. Also, because their hemoglobin levels are much lower than, for example, people living on the Riviera. This may be surprising at first because it is blood Hemoglobin molecules They carry oxygen, which is essential for the functioning of cells and organs, and if they are low, the oxygen supply is also weak.

Yes, but the biggest risk of altitude sickness is the thickening of the blood, which can be life-threatening, not only because of the formation of blood clots, but also because the heart has to work harder to pump the thicker blood. To the extent that the circulatory system collapses at any time. However, the thin blood of Tibetans is less thick At high altitude And their hearts will take it better. In addition, Tibetans were found to have more cells in their bodies that stimulate blood flow, oxygen supply and dilation of blood vessels (stimulatory transmitters). Nitric oxide Production.

When the genes of Tibetan people were analyzed in 2010,

Making life possible at several thousand meters. These are EPAS1 and EGLN1, which are missing in most of the human race Hemoglobin modifier There were genes. Our relative (discovered only in 2008), who lived in Asia 30-50 thousand years ago, and Denisovan man (Denisovan), had EPAS1 genes, and may seem strangely similar to Neanderthal people. , Homo sapiens also joined their ancestors, but the ancestors of the Tibetan people certainly acquired their unique high mountain superpowers in this way.

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