Abstract
I have probably had more fun doing high-altitude physiology than most people. Some 45 years ago I applied to be a member of Sir Edmund Hillary’s Silver Hut expedition and was accepted in spite of having no previous climbing experience. On this project a group of physiologists wintered at an altitude of 5800 m just south of Everest and carried out an extensive research program. Subsequently measurements were extended up to an altitude of 7440 m on Makalu. In fact the altitude of these field measurements of \( \dot VO_{2max} \) has never been exceeded. This led to a long interest in high-altitude medicine and physiology which culminated in the 1981 American Medical Research Expedition to Everest during which 5 people reached the summit and the first physiological measurements on the summit were made. Among the extraordinary findings were an extremely low alveolar PCO2 of 7–8 mmHg, an arterial pH (from the measured PCO2 and blood base excess) of over 7.7, and a \( \dot VO_{2max} \) of just over one liter/min. More recently a major interest has been the pathogenesis of high altitude pulmonary edema which we believe is caused by damage to pulmonary capillaries when the pressure inside some of them increases as a result of uneven hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (“stress failure”). Another interest is improving the conditions of people who need to work at high altitude by oxygen enrichment of room air. This enhances well-being and productivity, and is now being used or planned for several high-altitude telescopes up to altitudes of 5600 m. Other recent high-altitude projects include establishing an international archive on high-altitude medicine and physiology at UCSD, several books in the area including the historical study High Life, and editing the journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Hillary E and Doig D. High in the Thin Cold Air. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1962.
Hopkins SR, Schoene RB, Martin TR, Henderson WR, Spragg RG, and West JB. Intense exercise impairs the integrity of the pulmonary blood-gas barrier in elite athletes. Am J Resp Crit Care Med 155: 1090–1094, 1997.
Milledge JS. The Silver Hut expedition. In: Hypoxia: Man at Altitude, edited by J.R. Sutton, N.L. Jones and CSH Houston. New York: Thieme-Stratton, 1982.
Pugh LGCE. Physiological and medical aspects of the Himalayan scientific and mountaineering expedition 19601961. Br Med J 2: 621–633, 1962.
Rodway GW. Prelude to Everest: Alexander M. Kellas and the 1920 high altitude scientific expedition to Kamet. High Alt Med Biol 5: 364–379, 2004.
Schoene RB, Swenson ER, Pizzo CJ, Hackett PH, Roach RC, Millis WJ, Jr., Henderson WR, Jr., and Martin TR. The lung at high altitude: bronchoalveolar lavage in acute mountain sickness and pulmonary edema. J Appl Physiol 64: 2605–2613, 1988.
West JB. Alexander M. Kellas and the physiological challenge of Mt. Everest. J Appl Physiol 63: 3–11, 1987.
West JB. The Silver Hut expedition, high-altitude field expeditions, and low-pressure chamber simulations. In: Hypoxia and Molecular Medicine, edited by Sutton JR, Houston CS, and Coates G. Burlington,VT: Queen City Printers, 1993.
West JB. Oxygen enrichment of room air to relieve the hypoxia of high altitude. Respir Physiol 99: 225–232, 1995.
West JB, Boyer SJ, Graber DJ, Hackett PH, Maret KH, Milledge JS, Peters RM, Jr., Pizzo CJ, Samaja M, Sarnquist FH, Schoene RB, and Winslow RM. Maximal exercise at extreme altitudes on Mount Everest. JApplPhysiol 55: 688–698, 1983.
West JB, Hackett PH, Maret KH, Milledge JS, Peters RM, Jr., Pizzo CJ, and Winslow RM. Pulmonary gas exchange on the summit of Mt. Everest. J Appl Physiol 55: 678–687, 1983.
West JB, Tsukimoto K, Mathieu-Costello O, and Prediletto R. Stress failure in pulmonary capillaries. JApplPhysiol 70: 1731–1742, 1991.
Whitwell KE and Greet TR. Collection and evaluation of tracheobronchial washes in the horse. Equine Vet J 16: 499–508, 1984.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this paper
Cite this paper
West, J.B. (2006). Adventures in High-Altitude Physiology. In: Roach, R.C., Wagner, P.D., Hackett, P.H. (eds) Hypoxia and Exercise. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 588. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-34817-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-34817-9_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-34816-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-34817-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)