Less oxygen in the lungs

As altitude increases, the air becomes “thinner,” which means there is less oxygen in the atmosphere. With each breath you take, you get less oxygen in your lungs, and the amount of oxygen in your blood declines. This is also known as hypoxia. Symptoms of hypoxia include headaches, vomiting, sleeplessness, impaired thinking, and an inability to sustain long periods of physical activity. All people can experience mountain sickness, but it may be more severe in people who have heart or lung problems. The atmospheres at high altitudes have a drastically different composition and temperature than the atmosphere at sea level. These differences can affect humans.



Why less oxygen?

At high altitude, atmospheric pressure is lower as compared to the pressure at sea level. This is due to two competing physical effects: gravity, which causes the air to be as close as possible to the ground, and the heat content of the air, which causes the molecules to bounce off each other and expand.



Physiological response to less oxygen

When we travel to high altitudes, our bodies initially develop inefficient physiological responses. There is an increase in breathing and heart rate to as much as double the natural heart rate, even while resting. Pulse rate and blood pressure go up sharply as our hearts pump harder to get more oxygen to the cells. These are stressful changes, especially for people with weak hearts.

At high altitude your blood thickens and your blood pressure rises. This may increase your risk of a stroke because it can cause hypertension or high blood pressure.


You may want to have a blood pressure check to make sure this isn't affecting you! We don't want anything to happen to you!

BUT.......the body compensates for the thinner air by producing about a pint more blood in your system. The cool thing is that when you go back to sea level you can drink everybody under the table!


(Been there, done that )