Congratulations APA -- number 17!
May 16, 2007 19: 37 EST
We're proud of our friend Apa Sherpa who has just achieved the unthinkable -- 17 summits of the highest mountain in the world. We look forward to his safe return to EBC where likely there will be a big celebration in the SuperSherpa camp, his cohort Lhakpa Gelu having racked up 13 summits himself. Congratulations to these amazing athletes.
As altitude physicians, we are frequently asked about the long term effects of altitude on climbers who spend alot of time at extremes. I dug up this classic discussion of the long term effects of high altitude hypoxia on brain function. Read on:
Long term effects of high altitude on brain function.Hornbein TF.
University of Washington, Seattle.
Absence of oxygen to the brain for even a very few minutes results in loss of consciousness and can cause permanent injury. Can the wanderer to the limits of earth-bound hypoxia suffer similar harm from more prolonged exposure to milder hypoxia that does not cause loss of consciousness? The text of this article reviews the results from studies where neurobehavioral function has been compared in mountaineers before and after return from great heights and in individuals with chronic pulmonary disease before and after prolonged, continuous oxygen therapy. Many (although not all) of these studies report mild impairment of neurobehavioral function after fairly prolonged hypoxic exposure. Impairment was manifest by deficits in memory storage and recall, aphasia, concentration, and finger tapping speed; the last deficit was still detectable a year later in one group of mountaineers. Limited evidence suggests that climbers with a high ventilatory response to hypoxia (HVR) may be more susceptible to impairment than those with a lower HVR.
To read the entire article:
Hornbein TF. Long term effects of high altitude on brain function. Int J Sports Med. 1992 Oct;13 Suppl 1:S43-5.
Photo of Lhakpa Gelu after setting his first speed ascent record on Everest May 2003.
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