The effects of acute altitude exposure in Swiss highlanders and lowlanders

The functional characteristics at rest in responding to stepwise acute exposure to simulated altitude (6000 m) were compared in 10 acclimatized mountaineers (highlanders), residents of Zermatt (1616 m) working at an altitude up to about 4000 m, and in 11 nonacclimatized control subjects (lowlanders) living and working in Zurich (450 m). In comparison with the lowlanders, the highlanders showed at altitude significantly greater hyperventilation, lower heart rate and systolic blood pressure, smaller haemoconcentration, lower urodilatin secretion and natriuresis, and a preserved neuropsychological ability (attentiveness) and vasomotor tone (diastolic blood pressure); the critical altitude at which hypoxic short-term adaptation became insufficient was 6000 m. The lowlanders, however, manifested reduced tolerance of hypoxia, i.e. insufficient short-term adjustment with subjective and objective distress coinciding with the first signs of hypoxia of the central nervous system, already apparent at and above 4000 m. It was concluded that the functional differences between highlanders and lowlanders in responding to acute gradual hypoxia indicated factors contributing to altitude acclimatization.