High Altitude: An Exploration of Human Adaptation PDF

PREFACE

Maybe it is the proximity to the heavens or perhaps the distance from where most of us live out our lives. The peaks and steppes of high altitude harbor mystery. Something about those regions high above the level of the sea attracts some of us lowlanders to venture and to explore. This book is the creation of just such individuals, those who find in high places not only beauty but also the uncertainty that catalyzes the search for understanding about how humans (and other organisms) adapt in order to survive and even thrive where the pressure of air and hence the partial pressure of its oxygen are diminished.

This volume is about how humans respond acutely to, adapt to, and sometimes fail to adapt to high altitude, in particular to the hypoxia of high altitude. We define high altitude as elevations as low as 2000 meters (6500 feet) to those as high as 8850 meters (approximately 29,000 feet).