Course:EOSC311/2020/Lung Function on Mount Everest

Lung and Bodily Physiology on Mount Everest

Statement of connection to Kinesiology

This project will relate to my major of Human Kinetics and EOSC by looking at climbers and the altitude they face on Mount Everest and how well their lungs and body function as well as how they survive. Mount Everest connects to kinesiology because it is the birthplace of many questions and answers about human capacity and function. Climbers on Mount Everest have answered many questions about the human body. Kinesiology and science as a whole has learned many important things from Everest. I have always been interested in both climbing and kinesiology so I thought that combining the two for this assignment would be interesting given that each have significant effects on each other. Normally, kinesiology and geology are very separate fields with insignificant connections to each other, however, when dealing with a place like Everest, kinesiologists need geology in order to know the surroundings and landscape of where the climbers/experiments will be. Geologists also have a need for kinesiologists in this specific environment, as kinesiologists can tell climbers how to climb the mountain in a safe manner and what will happen with their body when they get close to the summit. Safer climbs with more information can lead to more and more geological quests around the summit. Additionally, I wanted to choose this topic because Mount Everest is one of if not the most amazing geological location in the world and it is also the home to many kinesiology studies. If a kinesiologist like myself wants to study altitude or lung function, a place like Mount Everest would be the gold standard for studying these things. A mammoth sized, ancient mountain should bring up many interesting factors from geology and kinesiology.

The first experiments and climbs

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  British climber Edmund Hillary(left) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay(right) before a climb
  Despite mount Everest being established as the highest mountain in the world in the 1850s, it was never available to climb to people outside of Tibet. Tibet finally opened its borders and its mystic mountain to the outside world in 1921. The first person or people to scale the mountain are unknown. This fact is unknown because two British climbers were said to reach the summit in 1924 but they died somewhere near the summit. George Mallory and Andrew Irvine are rarely accredited with being the first to reach the summit as many believe that they dies in what is known as "the death zone" just before reaching the summit. Some do believe that they reached the summit and were the first to do so but potential evidence is hard to come by because their bodies were not found until 1999, 75 years after their climb. This era was a tumultuous time for anyone who dared to climb Everest. After Mallory and Irvine disappeared, 13 more climbers were pronounced dead in the first 30 years Everest was open. Because of the amount of explorers dying, the Dalai Lama drove to close the mountain again and did so for the rest of the 1920s. The first climbers to officially reach the summit didn't come until 1953. The ascent was made by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay with the help of supplemental oxygen. The scientific community then believed that climbing was impossible without extra oxygen(later disproven by an Italian climber). Their ascent also gave the scientific community hope that possible experiments could be run near the top of Everest. The first experiment with Everest and altitude specifically in mind was done by Paul Bert in 1874. Since Tibet was not open to outsiders, Bert did his studies on respiratory physiology in a laboratory in Paris. Paul Bert became one of the first scientists to discover that hypoxia(deprivation of oxygen) due to altitude was dangerous and that it can manifest differently between people. Bert also discovered that gases changed pressures at different altitudes and could lead to sickness. Paul Bert believed that the pressure of oxygen dropped and there was less available to breathe and invented a practice that would change altitude and climbing forever. He came up with an idea to fill a metal tank with pressurized oxygen and breathe out of this tank instead of the air. Because of his thinking, Paul Bert is commonly known as the man who started respiratory physiology research and is accredited with saving many lives with his work on gas pressure and oxygen. Despite the findings of Paul Bert and others, no experiments had been done on the mountain itself which lead many to question some of the data and results. The first laboratory at significant altitude was an old climbers shelter on an Italian Alp that was turned into a basic laboratory space in 1893 that was the highest in the world at that time. Since this time, almost all empirical evidence on partial pressure, lung function, and altitude was done on these types laboratories. Despite clinical trials starting at high altitudes in 1893, it took almost a century for systematic studies to be carried out. 1981 was the first time clinical trials were done at or near the summit. Before this date, everything the science community knew about respiration, lung function, and blood chemistry was solely based on anecdotal accounts or from mathematical models and studies near sea level. Evidence that mathematical models could be wrong came from a climb done in 1978 when an Italian climber made it to the summit without supplemental oxygen, further proving that clinical studies should be done on the actual mountain. As clinical studies began to progress, many researchers found that experiments done on Everest could actually help many other areas of study. Experimental data from Everest was often extrapolated and used in other scenarios like Olympic runners and in hospitals.

Everest and the physiological improbability of reaching the summit

The 8,850m Mount Everest in Nepal

With clinical trials running on Everest for decades and the advances made it kinesiology, climbing Everest's summit may seem like a pretty doable task. Despite all the equipment and scientific research we have, getting to the summit is near impossible. One minor mistake could leave you with permanent brain damage, amputations or worse. After the summit was reached by Tenzing and Hillary, many believed that Everest was a challenge that could be conquered. Many climbers in the early days were unprepared for what life is like at the top of the mountain which caused many deaths in the early 1900s. The altitude can have damaging affects on nerves, the human brain, lungs, cognition, and breathing patterns. Physiologists now know just how dangerous Everest can be thanks to many studies on climbers. At the summit, a climbers VO2 max(maximum rate of oxygen consumption) is reduced by 80%, meaning that a climber at the summit can breathe just 20% of his/her maximum at sea level. This dramatic change often leads to hyperventilation and the feeling that one cannot get enough air, further causing hyperventilation. The average pressure on Everest is 33.6 Kpa compared to over 100Kpa at sea level. Kpa is a measurement of the amount of the pressure in the air. This is important because at 33.6 Kpa, the pressure of oxygen is 7Kpa(30% of sea level) and the saturation of oxygen drops significantly. The saturation of oxygen directly relates to how much oxygen the blood is able to carry to the cells of the body. Without a high oxygen saturation, the body will not get enough oxygen or nutrients to continue functioning. Oxygen saturation at sea level is between 96-100% whereas the peak of Everest is at just 55%. This 55% is the lowest oxygen saturation that has been measured in any scenario. An oxygen saturation level under 80% can compromise organ function and should be addressed within minutes or it can turn to cardiac arrest. The extremely low oxygen saturation level is one reason why over 96% of all climbers use supplemental oxygen. Another barrier in the route to reach the summit is the weather. Due to monsoons and heavy snowfall, Everest is only climbable 2 months of the year(October and May). Even if a climber gets good weather in this two month period, they use almost all of the month climbing. Human bodies are not built for such high altitudes, therefore climbers(even experienced veterans) must acclimatize. Acclimatizing means climbing about 1000m and staying at this altitude for days or even weeks in order for their body to get used to the change in elevation. If a climber does not participate in this process, they will more than likely obtain a cerebral or pulmonary edema, which is the swelling of the brain or accumulation of fluid in the lungs. Getting either of these on Everest will likely lead to a comatose state and death. Even if the climber acclimatizes for the recommended amount of time, it does not preclude them from getting acute mountain sickness. This sickness is common in many climbers and results from climbing too quickly and can result in brain swelling, headaches, nausea and a lack of sleep, all dangerous on a freezing mountain. These dangerous diseases and side effects will keep many climbers from reaching the summit but if a few are lucky enough to reach the summit, the story of Everest's relentlessness doesn't quit there. Climbers must be exhausted mentally and physically due to the thin air and the weeks it took them to climb to the top, unfortunately the climbers cannot stop and admire the view for long. A climber described the summit as "the most beautiful and hideous experience of my life". Exposure to the altitude at the summit(8500m) will lead to a loss of consciousness in just 3 minutes without oxygen. Even with the highly recommended supplemental oxygen, scientists believe that staying on the summit for more than 20 minutes would be "physically intolerable". Everest is an extreme feat due to the many barriers climbers face at these altitudes. Sadly, many climbers hoping to complete their dream of reaching the summit ends with them perishing on the mountain. At least 295 climbers(out of 5,000) from 17 different countries have died due to various Everest-induced causes including 6 brave Canadians.

The Death Zone

• The death zone as the name entails, is the area of the mountain where most climbers lose their lives. The daunting name refers to a passage 8,000m above sea level and just 500m from the summit where 1 in 10 climbers pass away. This zone is where most climbers start to feel the immense effects on their lungs. Climbers who have survived this passage say that this is where the oxygen deprivation is the worst and most noticeable. Simple tasks like sitting up and eating cause minutes of breathlessness and hyperventilation. Those who have been through the passage say that climbing takes all of their effort and mental focus and can be extremely frustrating and slow. A clinical study was ran on climbers in the Death zone and the results were not surprising. The data showed that climbers were exponentially slower in their ability to perform simple tasks and their short term memory and learning ability was severely decreased. This data is not good news as this passage is the hardest to get through for someone in peak condition, let alone at a serious cognition decline. The air is so thin that one climber described his trek and bodily function as "my brain was extremely confused doing simple things and it felt as though I was basically dying". Unfortunately, many climbers do not make it past this zone. In fact, over 200 climbers bodies remain in this area and are perfectly preserved and many are right in the middle of the trail. Many of these bodies have come from recent expeditions. As the mountain becomes more commercialized, more and more people in worse and worse shape have tried to reach the summit. Sherpas, experienced climbers who live in the area and work as guides, have accepted clients who are less and less in shape due to the wages. This new trend has lead to an exponential increase in deaths evidenced by one week in the Spring of 2019 when 11 climbers died. The death zone is unforgiving and serves as protection for the summit.

Early physiology that made an Everest summit possible

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  Capanna Margherita in the Italian Alps
  Capanna Margherita was a climbers shelter that was built in the Italian Alps at an altitude of almost 5,000m and is over 100 years old. The lab was the highest in the world at the time and is still the highest lab in Europe. It was turned into a makeshift lab in 1893 in order to study respiratory physiology and what happens to the human body on high mountains. This lab was the first to directly run experiments at high altitudes and was critical in understanding muscular endurance and fatigue and how they correlate with altitude. No mathematical models or extrapolation of data needed to occur as the tests were already done in the high altitude environment as opposed to the labs at sea level. Labs like these became the new trend as more and more countries and climbers wanted to reach the summit of many mountains. Capanna Margherita was the most respected laboratory that dealt with altitude and made many important discoveries that would help many future climbers. Thanks to head researcher, Angelo Masso, Capanna Margherita was the first lab to prove that climbing Everest was possible. In 1910, an Italian soldier climbed to an altitude of over 7900m as part of a clinical study for the lab and disproved many in the science community that climbing to such altitudes was impossible. Without this study, it would be unclear how long humans would steer clear of Everest. Mosso was also responsible for influencing the diet of a climber. Unlike most of the science community, Mosso believed that the climbers body must "have its stores ready at least 24 hours before the start". This thinking allowed climbers to climb higher with more energy with less altitude sickness. As high altitude experiments became more and more common in the 1950s due to aviation and climbing, the science community made many important discoveries. It was discovered that oxygen supplementation would significantly help climbers reach higher altitudes. This proved to be an important discovery as all current climbers use supplemental oxygen along with 96% of those who have reached the summit. By the 1980s, laboratories like Capanna Margherita were almost exclusively used and were considered the gold standard for testing respiratory questions. The functional limits of the body and most everything climbers need to increase survival comes from these high altitude labs.

The Geology of Everest

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  The 5,000km journey of the Indian plate before it collided with the Eurasian plate 65 million years ago and formed the Himalayas
  Mount Everest is part of a large mountain massif that forms from a focal point of tectonic action. During the late Precambrian and Palaeozoic periods about 550 million years ago, the Indian subcontinent separated from Eurasia. In the late Cretaceous period(84million years ago), the Indian plate began to go north and covered 6,000km and continued oceanic-oceanic subduction for 20 million years. Everest was first formed 65 million yers ago when the Eurasian and Indo-Australian tectonic plates collided. The Himalayan ranges were thrust upwards as the Indian and Australian plates moved North from South and were subducted under the Eurasian plate. The fast moving plates completely closed the once prominent Tethys Ocean 50 million years ago. The Indian subcontinent crashed into Asia and kept pushing the plate boundaries until the Himalayas were over 5 miles tall. The mountain range took its present shape and altitudes between 11,700 and 2.6 million years ago. Everest continues to grow at a pace of 10mm per year because the Indian plate is still being subducted by the Eurasian plate. The monolithic slices of rock that shot upwards due to tectonic action were from sedimentary rocks on the Tethys Sea floor. The sedimentary layers include limestone, marble, shale and pelite. The lighter rocks such as limestone and sandstone has been pushed upwad to form the mountain range. Rock lower in elevation are metamorphic schists and gneisses topped by igneous granites. Everest has three large rock formations, the Rongbuk, North Col, and Qomolangma formations. These formations are separated from each other by low-angle faults. The Rongbuk is the lowest of the three and includes basement rocks below Everest. It is metamorphic rock that includes schist and gneiss. Intruded between these metamorphic rocks are granite and magma. Rongbuk is home to.a large glacier formed by two tributary glaciers. Due to global warming, the glacier has shrunk by over 300 vertical feet in 80 years but it still contributes to the erosion of the mountain. Glaciers are the main erosion factor for the Himalayas and erode Everest at 2.7mm a year. The North Col formation is 4.3 miles(6900m) up the mountain and contains marble, phylitte and semischist. It is a pass that has been carved by glaciers. The first camp on the mountain itself is located here. Expeditions do not usually go through the North Col formation as it leads into Chinese territory. The Qomolangma formation is the highest and is made from layers of Ordovician limestone, laminae, siltstone, and dolomite. The Ordovician limestone is separated from the underlying metamorphic rock by a sharp fault with a breccia zone. This formation begins one mile above the North Col formation at a fault zone 8400m above sea level and continues until the summit. This formation is home to many marine fossils that are well preserved in the ice and rocks near the summit. These creatures were likely fossilized about 50 million years ago when the Tethys Ocean was wiped out. The weather on Everest is some of the harshest in the world. Winds continually reach 160km per hour and the very warmest temperatures are -19 degrees celsius(can be up to -60). The summer months on Everest include a monsoon season that effectively shuts down any climbs as well as blizzards and avalanches during the winter months.

What Kinesiologists have learned from studying Everest

A heart rate monitor with Oxygen saturation percentage. Items like this are commonly worn by climbers to easily see changes in heart function and oxygen levels

Kinesiologists are very much responsible for the progress of climbing Everest. Without past experiments, the summit of Everest may not have been possible. With improvements in technology, kinesiologists have been able to study climbers much more directly and efficiently. The main goal from these experiments is to try an identify possible problems and make a plan to fix them before they affect any climbers on the mountain. Researchers have learned and still believe that Everest's summit is extremely close to the limit that humankind can tolerate while maintaining basic cognition. Commercialization of the mountain has allowed researchers to be able to test more and more people which has helped set new data. Kinesiologists now know that the pressure of oxygen and oxygen saturation are the lowest anywhere in the world at the peak. This allows kinesiologists to correctly fit climbers with the right amount of oxygen. Without testing and data that proves this, climbers would be woefully unprepared for the changes that would happen in their bodies. Data from previous climbs has influenced eating habits, climbing routes, who can climb, eye wear and pre-climb testing. Eating habits have changed in climbers since tests showed that above 6,500m, blood glucose drops and climbers lose weight(10-20lbs) and muscle mass . This has lead to climbers eating more calories and protein as well as working out more before climbs in order to mitigate the effects. Tests on oxygen levels have changed climbing routes as kinesiologists have a better sense of how long to acclimatize for, lessening the chances of extreme hypoxia and sickness(0ver 80% of climbers vomit frequently). Tests have also shown that the nervous system and the mood of the climber begin to diminish at 15,000 feet which has allowed researchers to shorten climbs over this threshold. Tests on lung function have shown that the lungs swell and can cause fluid leakage above 9,000 feet which can lead to intense coughing, labored breathing and greater exertion. Data on lung function has allowed researchers to improve supplemental oxygen and raise the training methods to strengthen the lungs. Tests on heart function have shown that the heart beats quicker and harder to try and get enough oxygen to the lungs and muscles which has caused heart attacks in some climbers. Data on heart function has made kinesiologists more careful on who should climb and who could be at risk of suffering from a heart problem. Tests on UV radiation showed it can cause transient blindness and inflammation leading researchers to make sure climbers have effective goggles and have their skin covered at all times. Testing done by kinesiologists has led to many preventative measures and more information which has helped climbers improve their knowledge and survival.

What Geologists have learned from studying Everest

The Khumbu Glacier on Mt. Everest

Geologists know that Everest formed because the Indian plate moved 500km in just 10 million years, getting rid of the Tehyrs Ocean. The ocean left an imprint on the top of the mountain as there are still fossils from over 400 million years ago that were deposited on the former sea floor. These fossils slowly rose from the seafloor as Everest has lifted 10cm each year and now they sit over 8,000m above the ground. The sea floor brought many sediments to Everest and is the reason why the summit of Everest has lots of sedimentary rocks. A quarter of the global sedimentary budget comes from the Everest area. When studying rocks near the summit, geologists found that the sedimentary rocks near the summit can come into contact with metamorphic rocks in a shear zone. A shear zone results from deformation mechanisms in the crust and from the changeover from brittle to ductile deformation with increasing depth. Shear zones are very important in discovering the history of certain terrains. They have helped geologists reflect on the past temperatures, flow type, and the movement. The rocks in and around this shear zone have been found to be going southward ever since the Cenzoic period. Other prominent features of Everest include two glaciers, the Khumbu and Kangshung, that flank the mountain. The Khumbu glacier ranges from 3,300m to the summit of Everest and is the result of the last Ice Age 500,000 years ago. The Kangshung glacier is located on the East side of the mountain and ranges into China. The glacier is fed by the Kama Chu river but little is known about this glacier as it can only be reached with a several day walk with no shelters or camps on the way. Due to the glaciers and rivers that cover lots of the mountain, freshwater from this region supplies 20% of the global population. Everest was not always cold and icy. 16-21 million years ago, a thick channel of hot rocks flowed from the Tibetan Plateau into the Himalayas. These hot rocks came from the surface of the Indian tectonic plate and were shoved underground. Long after the collision, the rocks reached temperatures of up to 400C and became hotter than the rocks below them, reversing the normal geothermal gradient. Geologists also discovered that late-stage volatile magma caused an explosive network of dykes emanating out of the top of Everest. The network of dykes is surrounded by granite on both sides and comes out of leukogranite, meaning the fluid was left behind as the main intrusion cooled and solidified. Geologists have been able to discover all kinds of interesting things from ancient sea fossils to massive glaciers. Geologic expeditions on Everest have provided important discoveries in our Earth's past as well as it has given climbers a better understanding of the mountain.

Conclusion

On the surface, geology and kinesiology may not have a lot in common but when you dive deeper into nature, you begin to see how these two fields exchange similarities. When looking at Everest, this mountain would not be possible without the miracles of geology. Tectonic plates clashing and submerging, different types of rocks thrust up from an ancient sea, and of course all the erosion and other weathering effects. These processes may seem far away from clinical physiology and kinesiology but the geologic processes that formed Everest have allowed kinesiologists to learn many important things about the human body. Mount Everest is the place that every physiologist would love to do experiments and the mountain is cemented in the history of countless discoveries that have progressed human kind. Kinesiologists would not be able to learn everything about things like the lungs without geologists help navigating the mountain and knowing the topography by heart to help kinesiologists find the safest and best places to do their work. Geologists have benefited from Kinesiologists as kinesiologists have helped pave the way on how the human body responds to great altitude and what humans need for a successful trip up the mountain. Without science experiments and kinesiology, geologists would be less safe and may have had fewer opportunities to discover new things near the summit. In conclusion, these two fields are quite different but when it comes to mount Everest, they share mutually benefit each other and discoveries in each field lead to the other field gaining more insight for new discoveries that could drive mankind forward.

References

This Earth Science resource was created by Course:EOSC311.