![]() ![]() These were the first physiological measurements to be made on the Everest summit, and essentially, none has been made since. The low Pco 2 caused a severe degree of respiratory alkalosis with an arterial pH exceeding 7.7. Much novel information was obtained including an extraordinary degree of hyperventilation which reduced the alveolar partial pressure of carbon dioxide ( Pco 2) to about 8 mmHg (1.1 kPa) on the summit, and this in turn allowed the alveolar partial pressure of oxygen, PO 2, to be maintained at a viable level of about 35 mmHg (4.7 kPa). ![]() There is good evidence that this altitude is very near the limit of human tolerance to oxygen deprivation. The success of this expedition prompted me to organize the 1981 American Medical Research Expedition to Everest where the scientific objective was to determine the physiological changes that allow humans to survive in the extreme hypoxia of the highest point on earth. As far as we knew, no one had ever spent so long at such a high altitude before. The physiological objective was to obtain a better understanding of the acclimatization process of lowlanders during exposure to a very high altitude for several months. My introduction to high altitude medicine was as a member of Sir Edmund Hillary's Silver Hut Expedition in 1960–1961 when a small group of physiologists spent the winter and spring at an altitude of 5,800 m just south of Mt. I have been fortunate to work in two areas of extreme physiology and medicine: very high altitude and the microgravity of spaceflight. ![]()
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