Jensen Yamane

Elan

3/6/2014

Altitude Sickness             

          Through the first seven chapters of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, there is a constant reminder of how physically demanding it is to climb Everest.  Krakauer continuously mentions how the lack of oxygen causes the human body to begin to shut down.  For example, on page 8, Krakauer writes, "At 29,028 feet up in the troposphere, so little oxygen was reaching my brain that my mental capacity was that of a slow child."  This made me wonder about how altitude sickness and the other consequences of climbing into thin air (see what I did there?) work.

          High altitude can be very dangerous and potentially deadly.  The air at the top of Mount Everest has the same percentage of oxygen as sea level, but the amount of air is only a third.  According to thetech.org, the most common illnesses related to higher altitudes are acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude cerebral edema, and high altitude pulmonary edema.  If a climber climbs too high, too quickly, they may be affected by AMS.  Symptoms include: headache, dizziness, fatigue, dry cough, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, disturbed sleep and malaise.  In a few people who suffer from AMS, high altitude cerebral edema may impact them.  Cerebral edema is a very serious illness where the lack of oxygen flowing to the brain causes fluids to build up in the brain.  This causes: unsteady gait, inability to perform minor daily tasks, confusion, loss of memory, hallucinations, psychotic behavior, coma, and death.  As stated on page 36, Rob Hall's friend and business partner, Gary Ball died of cerebral edema, "...in October 1993, Gary ball died of cerebral edema-swelling of the brain brought on by high altitude..."  High altitude pulmonary edema is when the lungs fill with fluid which blocks the transfer of oxygen from inhaled air to the red blood cells.  If a climber goes unconscious while suffering from pulmonary edema, they will have to be descended or given oxygen or they will likely die.  

          While climbers attempt to acclimatize themselves to the thin air by ascending slowly, some people are more susceptible to altitude sickness than others and will have to turn back...or die.