Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The effects of high altitude on humans are mostly the consequences of reduced partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere. The medical problems that are direct consequence of high altitude are caused by the low inspired partial pressure of oxygen, which is caused by the reduced atmospheric pressure, and the constant gas fraction of oxygen in ...
Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different ways.
This window can be extended to 36 hours for ascent to altitude and 48 hours for prolonged exposure to altitude following diving. [10] An alternative diagnosis should be suspected if severe symptoms begin more than six hours following decompression without an altitude exposure or if any symptom occurs more than 24 hours after surfacing. [78]
High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema that occurs in otherwise healthy people at altitudes typically above 2,500 meters (8,200 ft). [2] HAPE is a severe presentation of altitude sickness. Cases have also been reported between 1,500–2,500 metres or 4,900–8,200 feet in people who ...
Decompression sickness. [8] [9] [12] [13] Altitude sickness. Frostbite or hypothermia from exposure to freezing cold air at high altitude. [14] Physical trauma caused by the violence of explosive decompression, which can turn people and loose objects into projectiles.
Failure to acclimatize may result in altitude sickness, including high-altitude pulmonary edema or cerebral edema . [11] [12] Humans have survived for 2 years at 5,950 m (19,520 ft) [475 millibars (14.0 inHg; 6.89 psi) of atmospheric pressure], which appears to be near the limit of the permanently tolerable highest altitude. [13]
In this range severe altitude illness is common. [2] At extreme altitude, above 5,500 metres (18,000 ft), one can expect significant hypoxemia, hypocapnia and alkalosis, with progressive deterioration of physiological function, which exceeds acclimatisation. Consequently, there is no human habitation in this altitude range. [2]
High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a medical condition in which the brain swells with fluid because of the physiological effects of traveling to a high altitude. It generally appears in patients who have acute mountain sickness and involves disorientation, lethargy, and nausea among other symptoms.