This April, two-dozen scientists from around the world will ascend more than 5,000 metres to Mount Everest’s Pyramid laboratory as part of a UBC-led project to study the effects of oxygen deprivation on human health.
The team will spend six weeks performing experiments at high altitudes, each aimed at illuminating a different aspect of hypoxia, a condition caused by inadequate oxygen supply.
The study of oxygen deprivation is important to any ailment that impairs blood flow to the brain, including heart attacks, respiratory failure and sleep apnea.
Due to the harsh, low-oxygen laboratory environment, team members will undergo six weeks of acclimatization before arriving at the lab.
The scientists themselves will be the primary subjects for the experiments, but they also plan to test several permanent, high-altitude residents of Nepal.
“People who live their lives at high altitude seem more resistant … to the respiratory and cardiovascular problems that we experience living at sea level,” said professor Philip Ainslie, the team’s principle investigator.
Organizers also hope to use the project to raise money for the Himalaya Trust, a foundation that builds schools and health-care facilities for in Nepal.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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