Today is my first day in Bogota, Colombia. Elevation of 2.6km. I don’t have altitude sickness like some, but I’m very short on breath after even minor exertion (walking one flight of stairs).
I know this goes away after 1 – 3 days, but what is actually happening in a person’s body to adapt so quickly?
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At high altitudes, the body needs to produce more red blood cells to be able to carry the little oxygen available throughout the body. A similar situation happens with the Badjao tribe, Phillipines, which are regarded as the best freedivers in the world, with spleens 50% larger than normal, and thus can store more blood when the need arises and the ability to stay underwater far longer than average, because they also use the oxygen more efficiently, and they also see clearer underwater than the average human, because they spend so much time in the water hunting fish, IIRC.
Body is low on oxygen, and starts trying to make more blood cells to carry more oxygen at a time. Hormone in the body stimulates more blood cell creation when the body isn’t getting the oxygen
It’s Erythropoietin, EPO, the hormone Lance Armstrong was caught using
It’s produced in the kidney, and it is produced and then circulates and regulates red blood cell production. The EPO controls production rate of red blood cells from the inside of your long bones.
It’s a slow process though. If you’re not getting enough oxygen the EPO will stimulate increased stem cell activity in your marrow and you will make red blood cells faster. More red blood cells means you can transfer more oxygen from your lungs to your organs.
Some people take EPO like a drug to give themselves more red blood cells for endurance althetics like cycling.
Idk about the 1-3 day thing though, be careful and make sure you know the correct waiting period and wait long enough. If you don’t wait long enough to get the extra RBCs the consequences are really bad, it’s not something to mess around with.
Having high hematocrit (as red blood cell concentration is called) increases blood viscosity. This elevates risk of clotting (mainly in the small arterioles and venules) and requires higher cardiac output to deliver the same flow/time.
Since oxygen delivery to periferal tissue is dependent on blood oxygen content (positively correlated with hematocrit) and volume per time unit (negatively correlated with hematocrit), there is an optimum hematocrit. This optimum changes with partial oxygen pressure in the lung alveoli.
TLDR: the blood gets ‘thicker’ which is a disadvantage
Edit: this was a reply on the question why we dont always make more red blood cells
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