What happens to your body at the top of Mount Everest - Andrew Lovering
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the human body's response to high altitudes, highlighting the dangers of rapid ascent like teleporting to Mt. Everest's peak, where one could suffocate due to the 33% lower oxygen levels. It explains how gradual acclimatization over a month allows the body to adapt through increased heart rate, breathing, and hemoglobin levels, enabling climbers to survive at extreme altitudes. The script also touches on severe altitude sickness conditions like HACE and HAPE, and the remarkable resilience of high-altitude populations.
Takeaways
- 🌍 Teleporting directly to Mt. Everest from sea level can be fatal due to the drastic decrease in barometric pressure and oxygen levels.
- 🏔️ At the summit of Mt. Everest (8,848 meters), the barometric pressure is only about 33% of that at sea level.
- 💨 The air at high altitudes is thinner, leading to less oxygen available for absorption by the body.
- 🏔️ Altitude sickness, specifically Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), can occur when ascending too quickly above 2,500 meters, causing symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and nausea.
- 🔍 Our bodies can adapt to high altitudes through various physiological responses, such as increased breathing rate and heart rate.
- 🩸 Within days of reaching higher altitudes, the body decreases plasma volume, increasing hemoglobin concentration to carry more oxygen.
- 💓 Over two weeks, hemoglobin levels rise, allowing the blood to carry more oxygen and the heart to pump more efficiently.
- 🌬️ Ventilatory acclimatization occurs, further increasing breathing to help the body adjust to the lower oxygen levels.
- 🧠 At altitudes above 3,500 meters, the body faces additional stress, with potential for High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE).
- 🧬 Some individuals with a genetic history of living at high altitudes may have advantages in preventing minor altitude sickness but are not immune to severe conditions.
Q & A
What would happen if someone teleported from sea level to the top of Mt. Everest?
-The individual would likely suffer from severe oxygen deprivation due to the significantly lower barometric pressure and oxygen levels at the summit, potentially leading to suffocation within minutes.
Why can people survive at the peak of Mt. Everest for hours if they ascend gradually over a month?
-The human body undergoes a series of physiological adaptations to high altitude over time, including increased breathing and heart rate, higher hemoglobin levels, and ventilatory acclimatization, which collectively help to distribute oxygen more efficiently.
What is the barometric pressure at the altitude of Mt. Everest compared to sea level?
-The barometric pressure at the summit of Mt. Everest, at 8,848 meters, is approximately 33% of what it is at sea level.
What is altitude sickness, and what are the symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)?
-Altitude sickness is a condition caused by oxygen deprivation at high altitudes. AMS is a form of altitude sickness that can cause symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and nausea, typically occurring when ascending too quickly.
How does the body respond to low oxygen pressure immediately after reaching high altitudes?
-Within minutes or seconds of reaching altitudes above 1,500 meters, carotid chemoreceptors in the neck sense the low oxygen pressure, triggering an increase in breathing rate and depth, as well as an increase in heart rate and the force of heart contractions.
What are the long-term adaptations that occur in the body if it stays at high altitude for several weeks?
-Long-term adaptations include a decrease in plasma volume, leading to higher hemoglobin concentration, an increase in hemoglobin levels over two weeks, and ventilatory acclimatization, which further increases breathing efficiency.
How does the volume of blood pumped with each heartbeat change during acclimatization to high altitude?
-Initially, the heart rate and the force of contractions increase to pump more blood. However, after several weeks of acclimatization, the volume of blood pumped with each heartbeat can return to normal levels due to the increased oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.
What are HACE and HAPE, and why are they dangerous?
-HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) and HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) are conditions that occur at altitudes above 3,500 meters, where increased pressure in the brain's arteries and veins or constriction of lung blood vessels can cause leakage and fluid buildup, potentially leading to life-threatening complications.
Do genetic factors play a role in preventing altitude sickness for some individuals?
-Yes, some Tibetans and South Americans with family histories of living at high altitudes may have genetic advantages that help prevent minor altitude sickness, although they are not immune to severe conditions like HACE and HAPE.
How have climbers over the last century demonstrated human adaptability to high altitudes?
-Climbers have pushed past their body's limitations by successfully reaching the highest points on Earth, such as the summit of Mt. Everest, thereby redefining the boundaries of human adaptability to extreme environments.
Outlines
🏔️ Adapting to High Altitudes
This paragraph discusses the severe physiological effects of sudden exposure to high altitudes, such as the summit of Mt. Everest, where the oxygen levels are drastically lower than at sea level. It explains that while a sudden ascent could lead to life-threatening conditions like suffocation due to lack of oxygen, a gradual ascent over time allows the body to adapt through various physiological changes. The paragraph also touches on the initial symptoms of altitude sickness and the body's short-term responses, such as increased breathing and heart rate, to compensate for the reduced oxygen availability.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Teleported
💡Barometric Pressure
💡Altitude Sickness
💡Hemoglobin
💡Carotid Chemoreceptors
💡Plasma Volume
💡Ventilatory Acclimatization
💡HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema)
💡HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema)
💡Genetic Advantages
💡Acclimatization
Highlights
Teleporting from sea level to Mt. Everest's peak would cause rapid oxygen deprivation and potential suffocation within minutes.
At 8,848 meters, the barometric pressure is only 33% of that at sea level, leading to significantly less oxygen availability.
People who gradually ascend to high altitudes can survive for hours at the peak due to the body's adaptive mechanisms.
At altitudes below 500 meters, oxygen molecules bind to hemoglobin in red blood cells for efficient oxygen transport.
As altitude increases, air thins, and oxygen deprivation can cause Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS).
AMS symptoms include headaches, fatigue, and nausea, and occur when ascending too quickly.
The body has multiple ways to adapt to high altitudes, starting with increased breathing and heart rate within minutes of reaching 1,500 meters.
Long-term adaptations include a decrease in plasma volume and an increase in hemoglobin levels for better oxygen transport.
High heart rate and increased hemoglobin-rich blood allow for normal blood volume per heartbeat after acclimatization.
Ventilatory acclimatization increases breathing efficiency over several weeks at high altitudes.
Climbers must acclimatize gradually, often descending to recover before ascending further.
Above 3,500 meters, the body experiences stress with dilated brain arteries and potential for fluid buildup.
High altitude can cause HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) and HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema), severe and life-threatening conditions.
Some individuals with a genetic predisposition for high altitude living have advantages against minor altitude sickness.
Despite risks, climbers have demonstrated that humans can adapt to and survive at extreme altitudes.
Climbers have pushed the boundaries of human adaptation, redefining the limits of what is possible.
Transcripts
If someone teleported from sea level to the top of Mt. Everest,
things would go bad fast.
At an altitude of 8,848 meters,
barometric pressure is approximately 33% of what it is at sea level.
This means there's significantly less oxygen in the air,
and our teleported individual would likely suffocate in minutes.
However, for people that make this same journey over the course of a month,
it's possible to survive at the peak for hours.
So what can happen to our bodies in just one month
that allows us to endure this incredible altitude?
Let’s imagine you’re one of the 5.8 billion people
living less than 500 meters above sea level.
When you take a breath at this altitude,
your lungs fill up with air composed of numerous gases and compounds.
Most important among these are oxygen molecules,
which bind to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells.
Blood then circulates throughout your body,
bringing essential oxygen to all your cells.
But as altitude increases, the air starts to get thinner.
The relative amounts of each compound remain the same
well into the upper atmosphere,
but overall, there is less oxygen for our bodies to absorb.
And if you ascend to altitudes above 2,500 meters,
the resulting oxygen deprivation can cause a form of altitude sickness
known as AMS,
often causing headaches, fatigue and nausea.
Fortunately, AMS only happens when we ascend too fast,
because our bodies have numerous ways of adapting to high altitudes.
Within minutes or even seconds of reaching altitudes of 1,500 meters,
carotid chemoreceptors in your neck sense your blood’s low oxygen pressure.
This triggers a response that increases the rate and depth of your breathing
to counteract the lack of oxygen.
Your heart rate also increases
and your heart contracts more tightly to pump additional blood with each beat,
quickly moving oxygenated blood around your body.
All these changes happen relatively fast, and if you were to keep ascending,
your heart rate and breathing would speed up accordingly.
But if you stayed at this altitude for several weeks,
you could reap the benefits of some longer-term adaptations.
Within the first few days above 1,500 meters,
the volume of plasma in your blood decreases,
which increases the concentration of hemoglobin.
Over the next two weeks, your hemoglobin levels will continue to rise,
allowing your blood to carry even more oxygen per milliliter.
Paired with your high heart rate,
this new hemoglobin-rich blood efficiently distributes oxygen throughout your body.
So much so that the volume of blood being pumped with each heartbeat
can return to normal levels.
Over this same time, your breathing also increases even further
in a process called ventilatory acclimatization.
After this several weeks of extended acclimatization,
your body has made enough significant changes to climb even higher.
However, you’ll still have to spend additional time acclimating along the way,
often climbing back down to recover before ascending even higher.
Because the summit of Everest isn't just high,
it’s the highest place on Earth.
And at altitudes above 3,500 meters, our bodies are under incredible stress.
Arteries and veins in the brain dilate to speed up blood flow,
But our smallest blood vessels, called capillaries,
remain the same size.
This increased pressure can cause blood vessels to leak,
and fluid to build up in the brain.
A similar issue can occur in the lungs,
where low oxygen causes blood vessels to constrict,
leading to more leaking vessels and fluid buildup.
These two conditions— known as HACE and HAPE, respectively—
are incredibly rare,
but can be life-threatening if not dealt with quickly.
Some Tibetans and South Americans with family histories
of living at high altitude
have genetic advantages that can prevent minor altitude sickness,
but even they aren’t immune to these severe conditions.
Yet despite these risks, climbers over the last century
have proved people can go higher than scientists ever thought possible.
Pushing past their body’s limitations,
these climbers have redefined what humanity can adapt to.
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