Effects of high altitude on humans

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 atmospheric air over the range in which humans can survive.^[1] The other major effect of altitude is due to lower ambient temperature.

The oxygen saturation of hemoglobin determines the content of oxygen in blood. After the human body reaches around 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level, the saturation of oxyhemoglobin begins to decrease rapidly.^[2] However, the human body has both short-term and long-term adaptations to altitude that allow it to partially compensate for the lack of oxygen. There is a limit to the level of adaptation; mountaineers refer to the altitudes above 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) as the death zone, where it is generally believed that no human body can acclimatize.^[3][4][5][6] At extreme altitudes, the ambient pressure can drop below the vapor pressure of water at body temperature, but at such altitudes even pure oxygen at ambient pressure cannot support human life, and a pressure suit is necessary. A rapid depressurisation to the low pressures of high altitudes can trigger altitude decompression sickness.

The physiological responses to high altitude include hyperventilation, polycythemia, increased capillary density in muscle and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction–increased intracellular oxidative enzymes. There are a range of responses to hypoxia at the cellular level, shown by discovery of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), which determine the general responses of the body to oxygen deprivation. Physiological functions at high altitude are not normal and evidence also shows impairment of neuropsychological function, which has been implicated in mountaineering and aviation accidents.^[1] Methods of mitigating the effects of the high altitude environment include oxygen enrichment of breathing air and/or an increase of pressure in an enclosed environment.^[1] Other effects of high altitude include frostbite, hypothermia, sunburn, and dehydration.

Tibetans and Andeans are two groups which are relatively well adapted to high altitude, but display noticeably different phenotypes.^[1]