Medical And Physiological Considerations For A High-Altitude Mma Site

1. Introduction 2. Medical and Physiological Effects of High Altitude 2.1 Normal Response to Hypoxia 2.2 Acclimatization 2.3 Sleep 2.4 Exercise 2.5 Mental Ability 2.6 Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) 2.7 High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) 2.8 High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) 2.9 Common Conditions Aggravated by High Altitude 3. Oxygen Enrichment 3.1 Technical Aspects of Oxygen Enrichment 3.2 Portable Oxygen 3.3 Fire Hazard 4. An MMA High Altitude Scenario 5. Conclusions Acknowledgments References ABSTRACT At the 5000 m altitude of the proposed MMA site in Chile the partial pressure of oxygen of the inspired gas in the lung is only 53% of its sea-level value. The resulting hypoxia causes a number of medical and physiological effects which must be considered in the planning of the instrument. In this report some of the existing studies of these effects are reviewed in order to predict, where possible, their severity in the MMA situation. An operating scenario is proposed which makes t..