Decoded: Why Heart Function Is Reduced At High Altitude
Wednesday, May 30, 2018 IST
Do you experience reduced heart function at high altitudes?
Low amount of oxygen at mountain peaks decreases the volume of blood circulating around the body, and increases blood pressure in the lungs, resulting in reduced heart function at high altitudes, say researchers.
However, the researchers also found that while both these factors impact blood flow, it surprisingly does not impact the body's ability to exercise to its fullest extent.
The findings will be important for people who live, travel and exercise at high altitudes.
The research improves our understanding of how the human body adapts to high altitude areas and will help us make exploration and tourism of Earth's mountainous regions safer, and may also help facilitate exercise performance in a wide range of sporting events that take place at high altitude, said researchers led by Michael Stembridge, from the Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales, Britain
"We hope to apply the findings of this work to help improve the health and well-being of these populations by furthering our understanding of the condition and exploring therapeutic targets," he said.
Many people who visit high altitudes suffer from "Chronic Mountain Sickness", which occurs when there is lower oxygen pressure present. It results in shortness of breath, headache, and a fast heartbeat.
For the research, published in The Journal of Physiology, the team collected data of a small group on how the heart and pulmonary blood vessels adapt to life with less oxygen.
The researchers and participants conducted the study during two weeks at a remote research facility in California.
Furthermore, echocardiography was used to assess cardiac and pulmonary vascular function which is non-invasive and indirect.
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...
Recently posted . 214K views . 1 min read
If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...
Recently posted . 10K views . 2 min read
The Langya henipavirus has a place with a similar group of infections, including Nipah, which is known to kill up to 3/4 of people in extreme cases.
Recently posted . 5K views . 1 min read
Queen's death: The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 was the oldest heir apparent in British history, became king immediately...
Recently posted . 5K views . 1 min read
More in
Over the weekend, photo hosting platform SmugMug acquired Flickr from Yahoo – sorry, Verizon; merging two companies that have offered similar services for nea...
Recently posted. 851 views . 1 min read
The development has also been reported in “Nature Astronomy”, a leading international journal, according to a statement by the Department of Space.
...
Recently posted. 909 views . 1 min read
Short bursts of bright light from electronic screens make it more difficult to fall back to sleep, found US researchers who directly tested how short pulses of ligh...
Recently posted. 862 views . 1 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 914 views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 4K views . 52 min read
Recently posted . 3K views . 67 min read
The meteorite is worth around Rs. 74 lakhs!
Recently posted. 733 views . 0 min read
What according to you is the best way to promote your brand? For most of you, it’s the same old traditional way of advertising with big hoardings and moving v...
Recently posted. 1K views . 2 min read