An investigation carried out by the Pneumology and Internal Medicine team of the San Agustín de Avilés Hospital, in Asturias, reveals thatwomen, youth, non-smokersYpeople with lower body mass indexthey resist better the smaller quantity or pressure of the oxygen (hypoxia) that occurs inaltitudes above 1,300 meters.
To reach this conclusion, they worked with 16 healthy hikers who were amateur trekkers as they ascended to the base camp of theKangchenjunga (Nepal), the third highest mountain in the world, with 8,570 meters of altitude. The participants made up a different sample of sexes, ages and weights, and three were smokers. In the expedition, which lasted for 21 days, a maximum height of 5,170 meters was reached. All participants had their oxygen saturation and heart rate measured at different altitudes (1,300, 2,043, 3,000, 3,870, 4,200, 4,750, and 5,170 meters) and at different times, always in resting conditions.
By sex it was detected thatthe decrease in oxygen saturation was more important in men than in women, 18.1 vs 17.6. Tobacco also played a relevant role, since the mean desaturation was significantly higher in the group of smokers (22.6) compared to the group of non-smokers (16.6). And the two individuals withmore difficultieswere those ofolder age and weight, who failed to reach the proposed summit. Details are published in the magazineBronconeumology Archivesof the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR).
