Congratulations. That’s great. Amazing. All things people say after someone has climbed Mount Everest or any other high-altitude mountain. The question most should be asking is was it worth it? Varying degrees of mountain sickness can affect a climber. They range from just headaches as a result of acute mountain sickness to death from High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). High altitude climbing can also kill brain cells, which can impact a person later in life. High-altitude climbing is very dangerous because of the neurological toll it takes on the body.
High altitude climbing is very dangerous because of HACE. HACE, also known as High-altitude cerebral edema, is caused by ascending to high altitudes. It is a common fact that “HACE usually …show more content…
One study found that “Most of the eight amateur climbers never got above 21,000 feet, and one reached only 18,000 feet. Still, none of the scans came back normal. Four of the climbers suffered multiple subcortical lesions, seven had widespread enlargement of their VR spaces, and all showed signs of cortical atrophyeven though half of the team displayed either no symptoms of mountain sickness or mild ones during the climb” (Fields). This just shows the irreversible brain damage that can result from climbing at high altitudes, even from people that never got above 21,000 feet. There is a direct correlation between hypoxia and brain cell death. “Lack of oxygen [from high altitudes] can directly damage brain cells” (Fields). The death of these brain cells also affects climbers for the rest of their lives. “It is increasingly clear that these climbers are paying for the privilege with something more than hard-earned cash. They’re paying with brain tissue” (Fields). People who climb Mount Everest and other high-altitude mountains all suffer irreversible brain cell and tissue death that will affect them forever. One example is when a climber “came back, he couldn't remember his own phone number. His wife would send him to the store for a loaf of bread and he would forget why he was there and come home without it” (Fayed). This quote shows the impact that the brain cell death has on a climber’s daily life.
High altitude climbing is very dangerous because of HACE. HACE, also known as High-altitude cerebral edema, is caused by ascending to high altitudes. It is a common fact that “HACE usually …show more content…
One study found that “Most of the eight amateur climbers never got above 21,000 feet, and one reached only 18,000 feet. Still, none of the scans came back normal. Four of the climbers suffered multiple subcortical lesions, seven had widespread enlargement of their VR spaces, and all showed signs of cortical atrophyeven though half of the team displayed either no symptoms of mountain sickness or mild ones during the climb” (Fields). This just shows the irreversible brain damage that can result from climbing at high altitudes, even from people that never got above 21,000 feet. There is a direct correlation between hypoxia and brain cell death. “Lack of oxygen [from high altitudes] can directly damage brain cells” (Fields). The death of these brain cells also affects climbers for the rest of their lives. “It is increasingly clear that these climbers are paying for the privilege with something more than hard-earned cash. They’re paying with brain tissue” (Fields). People who climb Mount Everest and other high-altitude mountains all suffer irreversible brain cell and tissue death that will affect them forever. One example is when a climber “came back, he couldn't remember his own phone number. His wife would send him to the store for a loaf of bread and he would forget why he was there and come home without it” (Fayed). This quote shows the impact that the brain cell death has on a climber’s daily life.