Earlier this month, U.K. mountaineer Richard Parks prematurely abandoned the expedition team to the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal. He planned to ascend the summit without supplemental oxygen in the Everest Cynllun project and take the highest elevation blood sample and muscle biopsy ever assembled. initial objective was to examine the relationship between hypoxia and cognitive decline by examining the human performance in oxygen deficient environments, but its abrupt end raised questions of another kind.
The team had for several weeks been climbing smaller peaks to acclimatize to the high altitude, and Parks was about to begin its second rotation of the mountain: a 2 week stay above the Khumbu Icefall (5486 meters). Damian Bailey, a physiologist at the University of South Wales in the United Kingdom and the Chief Scientist of the project, decided to carry out a blood test on earlier than planned parks. When he drew blood, he immediately knew something was wrong. "His blood was extraordinarily thick," Bailey said. "It was actually bleeding as I was taking a sample."
The tests revealed that Parks had unusually high levels of red blood cells and a high hematocrit, . the percentage of the mass of the blood composed of red blood cells one hand, it was an index of the ability of Parks to operate in conditions of low oxygen, "His brain was actually getting more oxygen than this would get at sea level, "Bailey said, despite the thin alpine atmosphere containing half the amount of oxygen found at low altitude. But these high cell densities also the start to an increased risk of stroke brain or heart attack. for this reason, the team decided to end the expedition on 3 May, despite seeming Parks outward in perfect health.
the same project managed to collect data for its original purpose to examine the relationship between hypoxia and cognitive decline. In addition, Bailey hopes to schedule a follow-up expedition at some point. But for now, there are more tests to come back in the lab and the unusual physiology parks has proved to have consequences not only for cognitive decline, but more for future Everest climbers directly.
exceptionally strong response to altitude Parks suggests that climbers could "overacclimatize" said Bailey, or themselves and others in danger by spending too much time at high altitude in order to an ascent. This goes against the prevailing wisdom that complete acclimatization is a must for any ascent without supplementary oxygen
And given the trappings of healthy parks, it is difficult to know the extent the problem could be :. How many climbers are already these symptoms without knowing it? And expected high altitude specialists test for this mountain? These are not the questions, the team supposed cause, but that does not mean they are unwelcome. "This is the dynamics of science," said Bailey. "You may come across some results ... which can be as deep as the original question you want to answer."
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