altitude adaptation
High-elevation body adjustment
Altitude adaptation refers to the physiological changes that allow humans and animals to function in environments with reduced oxygen, typically above 2,500 meters.
The body increases red blood cell production, breathing rate, and heart efficiency.
Some populations—Tibetans, Andean highlanders, Ethiopian highlanders—have evolved distinct genetic adaptations over thousands of years: Sherpas show remarkable altitude adaptation that allows them to climb with minimal supplemental oxygen.
- TibetHimalayan plateau region
- hemoglobinErythrocyte's oxygen-binding protein
- acclimatizationAdjusting to new conditions
- hypoxiaInsufficient tissue oxygenation
- metabolic rateBody's energy consumption pace
lung capacity · oxygen saturation · natural selection · vasodilation · barometric pressure · oxygen deprivation · polycythemia · red blood cells · breathing techniques · thin air · thin atmosphere · climbers · summit fever · pacing · caloric intake · sea level · oxygen · Himalayas
- Ecophysiologythermoregulation, osmoregulation, metabolic rate, heat exchange, gas exchange
- Mountain Medicineacute mountain sickness, mountain sickness, hypoxia, acclimatization, pulmonary edema
- populationspatients, inpatients, outpatients, elderly patients, stroke patients
- mountain animalsibex, mountain goat, snow leopard, marmot, pika
- physiologymetabolism, circulation, respiration, homeostasis, digestion
- adaptationsfilm adaptations, TV adaptations, stage adaptations, novel adaptations, dramatization