What Everest Teaches About Disease
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By SHIRLEY S. WANG
Researchers are going to great lengths—or rather, great heights—to further their understanding of the heart, lungs and brain.
A team of Mayo Clinic scientists recently accompanied climbers to Mount Everest to study the effects of high altitude. And researchers from the University of Colorado, Denver, are planning a high-altitude research trip to Bolivia with 24 study participants.
At high altitudes, the body's main
challenge is dealing with low oxygen levels in blood or tissue, as well
as lesser stresses involving diet, fluid, temperature and UV exposure.
For four weeks starting April 20, Mayo Clinic researchers were in Nepal taking physiological measurements of 10 climbers' hearts and lungs, as well as conducting sleep studies and cognitive performance tests on them.
The climbers spent six weeks at base camp, elevation 17,500 feet. The researchers, arriving from Rochester, Minn., elevation 1,300 feet, conducted the same assessments on themselves to compare results of those who had acclimatized with those who hadn't, says Bruce Johnson, Mayo professor of physiology and medicine who led the research. The expedition was sponsored by National Geographic and apparel maker the North Face, with support from Montana State University.
By studying the climbers, six of whom reached the summit, the researchers hope to gain insight into heart failure, lung disease and sleep apnea—all conditions related to a low-oxygen, or hypoxic, state. The longer people spend at extreme high altitude, the longer their bodies lack the needed amount of oxygen and the lower their energy—stresses similar to those caused by the diseases.
Conditions on Everest have been especially difficult this year because of the less-than-usual amount of snow and ice on the ground for climbers to dig into. There have been greater numbers of climbers at high camps waiting to attempt the summit, Dr. Johnson says. A high-altitude bottleneck of climbers played a role in the deaths of four climbers descending the summit earlier in May.
The proportion of oxygen in the air—21%—is constant whether at sea level or on the highest peak, but at lower altitudes there is more air pressure to force oxygen into tissue. At higher altitudes, where atmospheric pressure is lower, oxygen enters the body less readily, leading to the hypoxic state. Read More
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Steve Watson Infowars.com
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, the man leading an investigation into
the eligibility of the president, says he will not back down on the
birther issue despite last week’s attempts by Arizona Secretary of State
Ken Bennett to lay the controversy to rest.
Bennett said he was happy that an email from officials in Hawaii sent to him last week “proves President Obama’s American birth and satisfies Arizona’s requirements for having the president on the upcoming election ballot.”
Despite not having opened the email when questioned by reporters, Bennett apologized to critics who said he had “embarrassed the state” by suggesting the president may be kept off the ballot.
“I can now report to thousands of constituents that we did what can be done and [Obama] is qualified to be on the ballot,” Bennett said.
Sheriff Arpaio is somewhat unimpressed with Bennett’s back down however.
“That doesn’t impress me,” Arpaio told a New York talk radio host. “Why doesn’t [Bennett] ask for the birth certificate? The microfilm, look at the originals to see if it exists? … Just saying that there is some information about the president’s background doesn’t impress me.”
“I don’t know why it’s a big secret,” Arpaio added. “Why is just a letter coming out and saying, ‘Yes, we say that he was born there’? Show us the proof.”
“I just said from day one,” Arpaio continued, “I wanted to clear the president. I’m not accusing him of any crime; I just want to see the microfilm. We have two twins on the microfilm around the time the president was born. So let’s see the microfilm, let’s see the original copy of the birth certificate, then we’ll put this to rest. Read More
A team of Mayo Clinic scientists recently accompanied climbers to Mount Everest to study the effects of high altitude. And researchers from the University of Colorado, Denver, are planning a high-altitude research trip to Bolivia with 24 study participants.
For four weeks starting April 20, Mayo Clinic researchers were in Nepal taking physiological measurements of 10 climbers' hearts and lungs, as well as conducting sleep studies and cognitive performance tests on them.
The climbers spent six weeks at base camp, elevation 17,500 feet. The researchers, arriving from Rochester, Minn., elevation 1,300 feet, conducted the same assessments on themselves to compare results of those who had acclimatized with those who hadn't, says Bruce Johnson, Mayo professor of physiology and medicine who led the research. The expedition was sponsored by National Geographic and apparel maker the North Face, with support from Montana State University.
By studying the climbers, six of whom reached the summit, the researchers hope to gain insight into heart failure, lung disease and sleep apnea—all conditions related to a low-oxygen, or hypoxic, state. The longer people spend at extreme high altitude, the longer their bodies lack the needed amount of oxygen and the lower their energy—stresses similar to those caused by the diseases.
Conditions on Everest have been especially difficult this year because of the less-than-usual amount of snow and ice on the ground for climbers to dig into. There have been greater numbers of climbers at high camps waiting to attempt the summit, Dr. Johnson says. A high-altitude bottleneck of climbers played a role in the deaths of four climbers descending the summit earlier in May.
The proportion of oxygen in the air—21%—is constant whether at sea level or on the highest peak, but at lower altitudes there is more air pressure to force oxygen into tissue. At higher altitudes, where atmospheric pressure is lower, oxygen enters the body less readily, leading to the hypoxic state. Read More
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Arizona Sheriff Not Backing Down On Obama Birth Issue
Unimpressed with state’s announcement on presidential BallotSteve Watson Infowars.com
Bennett said he was happy that an email from officials in Hawaii sent to him last week “proves President Obama’s American birth and satisfies Arizona’s requirements for having the president on the upcoming election ballot.”
Despite not having opened the email when questioned by reporters, Bennett apologized to critics who said he had “embarrassed the state” by suggesting the president may be kept off the ballot.
“I can now report to thousands of constituents that we did what can be done and [Obama] is qualified to be on the ballot,” Bennett said.
Sheriff Arpaio is somewhat unimpressed with Bennett’s back down however.
“That doesn’t impress me,” Arpaio told a New York talk radio host. “Why doesn’t [Bennett] ask for the birth certificate? The microfilm, look at the originals to see if it exists? … Just saying that there is some information about the president’s background doesn’t impress me.”
“I don’t know why it’s a big secret,” Arpaio added. “Why is just a letter coming out and saying, ‘Yes, we say that he was born there’? Show us the proof.”
“I just said from day one,” Arpaio continued, “I wanted to clear the president. I’m not accusing him of any crime; I just want to see the microfilm. We have two twins on the microfilm around the time the president was born. So let’s see the microfilm, let’s see the original copy of the birth certificate, then we’ll put this to rest. Read More
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