A specialist in high-altitude medicine on Wednesday warned local hikers of the dangers of altitude sickness following reports of multiple deaths on Mount Everest.
Because the body requires more oxygen during strenuous exercise, hiking at high altitudes makes “thin” air seem like it has even less oxygen and pressure, said Wang Shih-hao (王士豪), a former emergency room doctor and general manager of a Taipei-based healthcare consultancy.
The activity makes the body perceive the altitude as higher than it really is, he said.
Photo: AP
As a result, spending too much time on a mountain makes hikers more susceptible to altitude sickness, he added.
Research has shown that performing strenuous exercise at about 4,000m above sea level places the physiological altitude about 500m higher than the physical altitude, Wang said, adding that the difference increases with altitude.
As more people attempt to climb the 100 tallest peaks in Taiwan, they should remember that although some of those mountains are suitable for beginners, the amount of time required to complete them means that hikers are still likely to experience altitude sickness, he said.
For example, it could take more than 12 hours to ascend and descend the main peaks of Yushan (玉山) or Hsuehshan (Snow Mountain, 雪山), or hike from the North Peak to the West Peak of Hehuanshan (合歡山), he said.
Altitude sickness does not develop suddenly, but occurs gradually after reaching a new altitude, he said.
People typically experience altitude sickness a few hours after they have reached the highest physiological altitude of their hike, he said.
Climbers who died on a 1996 expedition on Mount Everest experienced symptoms of altitude sickness before dying of hypothermia, he added.
Wang said that before Taiwanese climbers Lu Chong-han (呂忠翰) and Chang Yuan-chih (張元植) departed for Mount Makalu — which they ascended on May 15 — he gave them the tip of injecting steroids once every six hours on the descent, telling them to call for help if they experienced high-altitude conditions, such as a cerebral edema, acute cerebral failure or pulmonary failure.
Many tourists visit base camps near the 5,000m mark in the Himalayas, he said.
Although the base camps are easy to reach, they are still located at an extremely high altitude, he said, adding that people who want the experience should first visit Hehuanshan to determine whether their body would withstand conditions in the Himalayas.
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