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If you think about it, you can understand that the amount of oxygen in the air becomes less as your altitude increases. With each breath, you get less O2 to keep you conscious and alive. And as you consider this, you can probably figure out that altitude affects people differently. There is what is called a threshold for the medical condition called altitude sickness (acute mountain sickness) that begins at about 8,000 feet, or about 2,400 meters. Blood chemistry changes in response to decreasing air pressure as we gain altitude. The process is a bit involved, it's complex, and it takes a bit of study. And it's not all about just the oxygen. It's the law of partial pressures of gases and (more importantly) the pathophysiological response. The bottom line here is that different individuals are affected differently by increases in altitude. Some are more susceptible to the negative affects of those changes in altitude than others. Peoples that live at altitude actually have "different" blood to cope with the reduced oxygen higher up. And that's just one example of differences between people. Some adventurers have actually climbed Mount Everest (29,000+ feet) without supplemental oxygen, but they are rare birds, and risk their lives to do that. We may have confused you, though it was not the intent. Consider that Andean peoples have lived at high altitudes for thousands of years and think nothing of it. Visitors to the natives at those altitudes might experience light headedness or dizziness. Loss of breath is possible, as are headaches, tingling in the limbs and swelling (edema). And the list goes on. But you're getting the picture. Use the link below to review what we call altitude sickness. That's about the best we can do. Feel free to return after your research and post more. Links can be found below.

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16y ago

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