Every third person suffers cardiac arrhythmia during Everest ascent
Published: Thursday, Apr 25th 2024, 12:20
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When climbing Mount Everest, cardiac arrhythmia occurs in one in three people. The body's ability to adapt at high altitudes can contribute to this phenomenon, according to a study by the University of Bern.
Previously, smaller studies at moderate altitudes indicated a higher incidence of cardiac arrhythmia, as the University of Bern announced on Thursday. In the current study, researchers from the Department of Cardiology at Inselspital University Hospital and experts from Kathmandu in Nepal investigated the issue at high altitudes.
They fitted 41 healthy volunteers with portable electrocardiograms after assessing the condition of their hearts during the ascent. Of the study participants, 34 reached the base camp, 32 reached the South Col at an altitude of 7900 meters and 14 reached the summit of Mount Everest (Chomolungma, Sagarmatha), the highest mountain on earth, at 8848 meters above sea level.
The measurements showed that over a third had cardiac arrhythmias on the ascent to the base camp at 5300 meters, which did not occur at below 1500 meters. These were slow disturbances and interruptions. However, there were also rapid disturbances.
However, none of the cardiac arrhythmias were clinically serious. The proportion of people experiencing disturbances remained stable regardless of altitude. Interestingly, the majority of the disturbances occurred below 7,300 meters, where most of the climbers were not using bottled oxygen.
According to the findings, the disorders are due to the body's adaptation mechanisms to the thin air at high altitudes. Breathing patterns during sleep and disturbances in the salt balance played an important role in this.
Future studies should examine the possible effects of cardiac arrhythmia in more detail. This would allow conclusions to be drawn as to whether these are an additional and previously underestimated risk of high-altitude mountaineering, the university wrote.
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