... Combined with low blood pressure.. . . Combined with low blood pressure The high consumption of salt and animal fat does nottranslate into high blood pressure, at least among Tibetan nomads studied last summer by anthropologist Cynthia M. Beall of Case Western Reserve University. Beall, who is working with Goldstein in Tibet, found no cases of hypertension among more than 120 Phala nomads. The average blood pressure of those measured so far is below reported averages for men and women in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . The nomads' diet consists of meat, dairy products dairy products dairy npl → produits laitier dairy products dairy npl → Milchprodukte pl, Molkereiprodukte pl , barley flour and tea flavored with salt and butter; fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce at the 3-mile-high elevation. Beall now plans to measure the amount of salt consumed by nomads. Several factors, including extreme altitude, may help to depress de·press v. 1. To lower in spirits; deject. 2. To cause to drop or sink; lower. 3. To press down. 4. To lessen the activity or force of something. blood pressure, she suggests. Beall uncovered another surprising finding after takingblood samples from 110 Phala men and women and calculating their hemoglobin concentration--a measure that usually increases at high altitudes. Hemoglobin concentration was greater for Phala nomads than for sea-level populations or for Tibetans living at 12,000 feet above sea level, but residents of Chile's Andes Mountains Andes Mountains Mountain system, western South America. One of the great natural features of the globe, the Andes extend north-south about 5,500 mi (8,900 km). They run parallel to the Caribbean Sea coast in Venezuela before turning southwest and entering Colombia. have the highest known hemoglobin rates at elevations several thousand feet lower than the Tibetan plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan (Qingzang) Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in East Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in the People's Republic of China and Ladakh in Kashmir. . A larger sample of Phala nomads will be studied for hemoglobin concentration as well as for other measures of oxygen delivery in the body, says Beall. |
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