From my personal experience where I have gone to higher altitudes it gets harder to breathe and I lose my appetite. According to "webmd.com" the symptoms of altitude sickness which come from a lack of oxygen are as follows:
- A headache, which is usually throbbing. It gets worse during the night and when you wake up.
- Not feeling like eating.
- Feeling sick to your stomach. You may vomit.
- Feeling weak and tired. In severe cases, you do not have the energy to eat, dress yourself, or do anything.
- Waking up during the night and not sleeping well.
- Feeling dizzy.
These things are definitely capable of hindering your ability it complete such a large trek as reaching the summit of Everest. Acclimating is able to reduce the effects of altitude sickness which makes it almost impossible to go without.
When I was reading, I was really wondering about this topic as well, and what the effects of climbing were. I also found that there were a lot of deaths unfortunately on Everest, and I find it really interesting that people continue to climb these mountains if they know of these severe risks. This post answered a lot of my questions, and maybe later in the book they will include some things to further my understanding!
ReplyDeleteWhile reading I found this new word 'Acclimatize' interesting, I had never heard of it before and reading it for the first time made me intrigued. "we would need to make repeated forays above Base Camp before the summit push in order to acclimatize." I wondered what exactly 'acclimatize' meant. Your Blog helped me understand further although I wanted to know more. According to Dictionary.com to be acclimate is to be accustomed to a new climate or enviroment. After learning the symptoms of altitude sickness (above) I wanted to know how to prevent it. I learned that the best way to become acclimatized is to ascend slowly, not drink alcohol within 48 hours, don't do high levels of exercise, and having already experienced that altitude helps ( CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Preventions).
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