Into thin air. (Life/Earth News).Salt Lake City's altitude has U.S. Olympic cross-country skier NINA KEMPPEL, 31, on high alert. Her 5- to 30- kilometer races take place nearly 1,829 meters (6,000 feet) above sea level. Says the Alaska native: "I'll definitely be careful with the altitude, which is tricky." Why? As altitude increases, air pressure drops and the gas molecules that make up air drift apart. So every human breath takes in fewer vital oxygen ([O.sub.2]) molecules than in the same volume of air at sea level. But to move fast, muscles must guzzle guz·zle v. guz·zled, guz·zling, guz·zles v.tr. 1. To drink greedily or habitually: guzzle beer. 2. [0.sub.2]. Luckily, "athletes can acclimatize [adjust] to low-oxygen levels at high altitude by training in the area four to six weeks before racing," says Neal Henderson at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine sports medicine, branch of medicine concerned with physical fitness and with the treatment and prevention of injuries and other disorders related to sports. Knee, leg, back, and shoulder injuries; stiffness and pain in joints; tendinitis; "tennis elbow"; and in Colorado. At first, the body weakens due to hypoxia hypoxia Condition in which tissues are starved of oxygen. The extreme is anoxia (absence of oxygen). There are four types: hypoxemic, from low blood oxygen content (e.g., in altitude sickness); anemic, from low blood oxygen-carrying capacity (e.g. , lack of oxygen. Then, the stress of oxygen deprivation spurs the kidneys to release a chemical that stimulates red blood cell red blood cell: see blood. (RBC RBC red blood cell. RBC or rbc abbr. red blood cell RBC, n See red blood cell count. RBC red blood cells; red blood (cell) count (see blood count). ) production. More RBCs means more muscle fuel. --K.M. OXYGEN IN AIR ALTITUDE % OXYGEN (IN FEET) AVAILABLE 10,000 68.8 5,700 81.5 4,500 84.8 |
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