Altitude Sickness: Breathtaking: Breath Taking

With increasing altitude, the air becomes thinner; at about 2,500 meters, altitude sickness threatens. Even at 3,000 meters, you have 40 percent less oxygen to breathe. Headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness are among the first warning signs of altitude sickness. The most important rule is to ascend slowly. Every year, half a million high-altitude tourists are drawn to the Himalayas, the Andean countries, Mount Elbrus in the Causcasus or Mount Kilimanjaro.

Altitude sickness

As exalted as one can feel at altitude, extreme mountaineering also has its downsides: “For every tenth ‘summit winner,’ there is a death,” Reinhold Messner writes about tourism on Mount Everest in Explorer Magazine.

“At the top, not only our judgment dwindles, but also our overview. Weakness of will, bloodlessness and apathy slow down the spirit in the death zone.” “The control of our breathing is not designed for extreme altitude,” says Klaus Mees, a Munich professor at the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic at Klinikum Großhadern. He should know, because Mees has researched altitude sickness several times in the death zone of Mount Everest above 7,000 m – an ailment that costs the lives of more mountaineers than rockfalls, storms and avalanches combined.

Symptoms of altitude sickness

Altitude sickness has numerous facets. The first signs can appear as early as climbing high mountains of about 2,000 m or more.

The main symptoms of altitude sickness are:

  • Headache
  • Loss of appetite
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Fatigue
  • Shortness of breath
  • Dizziness
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Edema
  • Decreased water and salt excretion.

Vacationers who travel from the plains to the mountains and undertake large tours on the very first day, complain more often. If these symptoms do not disappear after some time and rest, you should turn back, because the higher you climb, the more severe the malaise.

The cause of the discomfort

As altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases, and so does the partial pressure of oxygen (that is, the proportional pressure of oxygen). At 5,500 m, the partial pressure of oxygen is already reduced by 50 percent, and at 8,000 m it is only about 35 percent. By the time we reach the highest peak on earth, Mount Everest (8,850 m), the air pressure drops by two-thirds. As a result, the lungs absorb less oxygen and an oxygen deficiency occurs, known as hypotoxia.

The result: above 7,000 m, about 80 %, at Everest practically 100 % of the people become unconscious within 2 to 3 minutes and die shortly thereafter if they do not get additional oxygen.

The body’s respiratory regulation is based primarily on the carbon dioxide content of the blood, which does not increase when the air pressure decreases – the body can adapt to this situation by increasing the number of red blood cells. However, to be able to climb the highest mountain on earth, you need about five weeks to slowly accustom the body to the altitude.

Dangers in thin air

The main danger of low air pressure is fluid accumulation (edema) in the lungs and other body tissues (for example, the brain). They occur as a result of an increase in blood pressure.

If one notices acute symptoms of altitude sickness while climbing a mountain, one should begin the descent; if only 1 or 2 symptoms occur, acclimatization at the same altitude is also considered sufficient by many.

In severe cases, the affected person must be evacuated to lower altitudes. Further ascent is life-threatening, and even remaining at the same altitude usually intensifies the symptoms and, in extreme cases, leads to death.