Pokhara is the second largest city of Nepal and is a major base for trekkers und
ID: 216223 • Letter: P
Question
Pokhara is the second largest city of Nepal and is a major base for trekkers undertaking the urna Circuit because it is within 30 miles of three out of the ten highest mountains in world- -Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu. Pokhara's elevation is around 1000m depending on where in the region you are, but climbing the tallest peaks nearby will get you s high as 7500m. New York City is at sea level, so if you were to be very adventurous and 500m Nepal to climb one of the peaks, you would face a number of physiological challenges go t lated to the change in elevation. Being prudent and a good planner you would spend a re le of weeks making your way up to higher and higher elevations, probably going to a coup base physiological challenges when you first arrived and then becon over time. What physiological changes would be taking place after two-three weeks at the base camp? Consider all the physiological systems that would be affected including pulmonary, cardiovascular and thermoregulatory. Finally, even after weeks at high altitude, how might you differ physiologically from those who live there and are descended from people living there for hundreds of generations? camp at about 3000m. As you did that, how would you respond to the acute e somewhat acclimatizedExplanation / Answer
Ans:- The effects of high altitude on humans are considerable. The percentage oxygen saturation of haemoglobin determines the content of oxygen in blood. When the human body reaches around 2,100 m (7000) feet above sea level, the saturation of oxyhemoglobin begins to decrease rapidly. However, human body can adapt to both short-term or long term altitude that allow to partially compensate for the lack of oxygen.
At higher altitudes, the red blood cells present in our body carries more oxygen through the bloodstream pushing air into unused portions of the lungs. At higher altitudes it also increases our heartbeat, breathing and urination. The low humidity and low air pressure at high altitudes causes moisture from our skin and lungs to evaporate at faster pace and due to this increase exertion our body requires more water.
High altitude causes pulmonary odema, cerebral odema and it can be fatal if not managed appropriately. The people living at higher altitudes have adapted to lower oxygen levels because they have better oxygenation at birth, enlarged lung volumes thoughout life and higher capacity for exercise. A significantly lower mortality rate from cardiovascular disease is observed for residents at higher altitudes.
At high altitude the heart beats faster, the stroke volume is slightly decreased and non essential bodily functions are suppressed, resulting in decline in food digestion. However it takes days or even weeks to compensate with higher altitudes and the body undergoes physiological changes like lower lactate production, decreased plasma volume, increased RBC mass, increased myoglobin, higher concentration of capillaries in skeletal muscle tissue, increased aerobic enzyme concentration etc.
Above discussed are some of the physiological systems that would be affect pulmonary, cardiovascular and thermoregulatory and what will happen or differ after weeks in the physiological conditions of our body from those who live there.