Chapter 379: There is no lack of oxygen in the plateau air
"Oh my god, how long will it take?"
In the hotel, Yao Jun collapsed on the bed and took off his shoes. After walking all day, his feet were tired and swollen, so he just wanted to have a good sleep.
"Put your shoes outside. Why does it smell so bad?" Bifang fanned his nose. He hadn't smelled such a smell for a long time. He immediately pulled Yao Jun up from the bed and asked him to put his shoes outside the window.
"Is it that serious?" Yao Jun stood up awkwardly and placed his shoes and socks outside the house.
Bifang shook his head helplessly: "You are not the only one here, and my nose is much more sensitive than that of ordinary people, so I can't stand it."
They are all in the mountains. They are called hotels, but in fact they are just a few small mud houses. Don't even think about single compartments. There are earthen kangs in each room, which can sleep at least four people.
At this time, Bifang and others were gathered in a house, and the guide and several others were in another house, all waiting for the owner of the house to bring them dinner.
Bifang washed his face with a hot towel, then brought a small stool and sat around the fire with everyone in the yard. The temperature in the mountains fluctuated greatly. Although it was still a little hot at noon, it started to get cold at night, and they even had to put on a thin cotton jacket.
When his fingers warmed up, Bifang said, "Today is everyone's first day walking, and everyone's speed is different, which makes the team a little long. How to adjust the appropriate pace will be the topic we will study tonight. Does anyone feel that they can't keep up today? Or can keep up, but feel very tired? Tell me the truth as soon as you have any reaction. Although the possibility of altitude sickness at 3,000 meters is small, it is not impossible. And Sir, I haven't heard you say that you want to rest all day today, so don't force yourself."
Atenburg laughed: "You think too much. I have always been at the front of the team. I have walked for a long distance in both the mountains and the rainforest. Don't underestimate me. I even walked twelve ."
Seeing that the Lord had no problem and even had a red glow on his face, Bi Fang looked at Wang Yongbo and others: "What about you?"
Everyone shook their heads, only Wang Yongbo scratched his head: "I can't keep up with the pace today, and my heart feels weird, like it's being pinched by a hand. Is this a sign of altitude sickness?"
Bifang frowned: "What about you, do you have the same reaction?"
Everyone shook their heads, but Jarrett and the photographer on the side raised their hands. Indeed, they didn't react just now, but now thinking about it, it seems that they have the same reaction.
These people had physical examinations before coming and were found to have no diseases.
“It could be a precursor.”
Wang Yongbo and the others were stunned, and then they realized that they had altitude sickness at 3,000 meters? What should they do next?
"It's okay. Since the physical examination is fine, there's no need to worry too much. As long as you're not sick, most people will have no problem climbing three or four thousand meters. And many people just have psychological reactions. I suspect you just over-exercised today. Plus, we flew from one thousand meters to three thousand meters directly by helicopter, and the altitude increased a bit too fast, so you haven't fully adapted yet. Just get a good rest tonight."
Wang Yongbo was a little wide, but not fat. As for Jarrett and the photographer, Bifang suspected that it was just because their equipment was too heavy. Because they had to carry the equipment, even with the help of livestock, each of them had to carry at least nearly five kilograms of weight. The altitude sickness was probably caused by excessive exercise.
After thinking for a while, Bifang came up with a plan: "Well, tomorrow I'll ask Rob to find two porters to help you carry your backpack. You should eat more cheese and chocolate tonight. High-calorie foods are good for fighting hypertension. I'll ask Rob to buy some water later. We'll set off early tomorrow morning. You should keep drinking water. Drink at least 4L of water. You can get 8 bottles of Nongfu Spring or something like that. Drink it in small sips and keep going to the toilet every half an hour. That should be fine."
"Drink water?" Wang Yongbo was stunned. "Will it work?"
The audience in the live broadcast room were also very curious. It was understandable to ask someone to carry things for you, but can drinking water cure altitude sickness?
[Isn't this a bit too much? ]
[I remember there are medicines for altitude sickness, right? ]
[Yes, isn’t that Rhodiola? ]
Unexpectedly, Bifang shook his head and said, "It's useless. Those medicines are really not as effective as drinking water. In fact, most anti-altitude drugs are placebos. They may be able to reduce altitude sickness, but there is no clinical trial to prove it. As for Rhodiola rosea, I have not seen any authoritative scientific evidence so far. The Olympics has listed it as a banned stimulant. At most, it has a certain effect on mental depression caused by altitude sickness."
"Also, do you think the oxygen content is lower at high altitudes?"
Bifang looked at everyone and found that everyone was nodding. Everyone thought so.
"Isn't it? Isn't altitude sickness caused by the thin oxygen in the high altitude?"
"Wrong." Bifang shook his head again. This was the second time he shook his head in a short period of time. "From sea level to an altitude of 100,000 meters, the oxygen content in the air is about 21%."
When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.
Isn’t this common knowledge?
【Is Lao Fang also suffering from altitude sickness? (funny), his consciousness is no longer clear. 】
Bifang rolled his eyes. His current maximum oxygen uptake was at least over 80. Such a person would suffer from altitude sickness when running to an altitude of 3,000 meters. Unless he had heart disease, blood disease, cerebrovascular disease, various respiratory diseases, epilepsy, schizophrenia and uncontrolled diabetes, with many debuffs, it would be possible for him to suffer from altitude sickness.
"The air in the plateau is not lacking in oxygen! It is people who are lacking in oxygen. Have you ever been on an airplane? Its engine is essentially an internal combustion engine. If the plateau environment is 'lack of oxygen', then the airplane engine cannot burn fuel normally to generate power to support flight, and the passengers in the cabin will also be in danger of suffocation. In fact, thousands of passengers fly safely on civil aircraft at an altitude of 10,000 meters every day. If the oxygen content in the plains is 21%, in high altitude areas, the oxygen ratio is also 21% most of the time, which means that there is no lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. The oxygen ratio does not change at all."
"Then why is there altitude sickness?"
"It's the air pressure." Bifang gave the reason directly without any ambiguity. "At an altitude of 4,270 meters, the oxygen pressure is only 58% of that at sea level. Therefore, although the relative proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere has not changed, the absolute amount of oxygen has decreased due to the thin air, which leads to hypoxia."
"When we go to the plateau, our body's oxygen demand is the same as on the plains. The lower absolute oxygen volume on the plateau means we need to breathe more air to get oxygen. Our breathing and heartbeat must speed up. The amount of oxygen we can get with one breath on the plains requires two breaths on the plateau."
The effect of improving maximum oxygen uptake is that the utilization rate of oxygen is higher. Others on the plateau need multiple breaths to maintain oxygen intake, but Bifang only needs one breath. The only difference is probably that the chest cavity will expand a little more.
"Breathing consumes water very easily. I told everyone in the desert that it is best to breathe through the nose rather than the mouth, so that less water is lost. Because the breathing frequency and amplitude are greater, we will lose a lot of water, making us more dehydrated than in the plains. At the same time, the increase in lung activity and heart movement consumes a lot of water. Dehydration can easily lead to a decrease in blood flow and a decrease in the amount of oxygen transported. If you don't replenish water in time, the consequences will be very serious."
The cold and lack of oxygen in the plateau can make people's brains dull. By the time they realize they are lacking oxygen, the consequences are already very serious. This is the so-called altitude sickness.
"So drinking water can effectively relieve altitude sickness. It works better than medicine."
[Awesome, cutting my butt with a knife, really eye-opening! ]
[The little cow stands upside down, so awesome]
[Who did you learn these two-part allegorical sayings from? ]
Just as everyone was amazed, the door suddenly opened and a black-faced Sherpa man came in carrying several large plates.
“Finally I can eat!”
Yao Jun jumped out of bed and went to the table impatiently. He was almost starving after walking all day.
"Eat more. We are now in Fakting, 2,610 meters above sea level, which is the halfway point between Lukla and Nanchi. We still have a long way to go tomorrow, so we need to eat enough."
Bifang picked up the chopsticks and handed them to everyone. The food on the table was not unusual. There were some fried noodles, fried rice, noodle soup, steamed buns, etc., plus pasta and pizza.
"In the past, most people who took the EBC route were white people from Europe, but in recent years, the number of people from China has gradually increased. There are many more Chinese food in the inns and hotels along the route, such as dumplings and noodles, and there are more chopsticks. We can be said to have caught up with a good era, otherwise we would only be able to eat Western food, the kind that we eat with our hands."
Because they were hungry, everyone didn't care about their image and started eating with chopsticks, knives and forks.
Yao Jun, who was standing by, called out to the boss: "Boss, I see you seem to have a WiFi signal here, can you tell me the password?"
The boss wiped his hands and smiled. His weather-beaten face was full of wrinkles, and he looked very honest. Unfortunately, what he said was not honest at all. He held up three fingers and said, "300 rupees."
Yao Jun was stunned: "What the hell? This costs money? Okay, okay, tell me the password, I'll pay for it! Let everyone use WiFi!"
Unexpectedly, the boss shook his head again and said, "Three hundred per person, I'll enter the password?"
Yao Jun: “…”
"Hahaha, forget it, Yao Jun." Bifang patted his shoulder, "No need. Don't expect a good Wi-Fi speed in a place where the electricity is unstable. Just use data."
After everyone finished dinner, Bifang summarized the problems and points of attention.
"You can't tell whether a person is lacking oxygen by feeling, because the brain and heart have a large tolerance and it's not easy to feel it. It has to be measured. Observing the color of the lips is a measurement, a visual inspection. The color of the lips represents the color of the arterial blood. Purple or black lips indicate that the arterial blood is not saturated with oxygen and the body is lacking oxygen. When you climb Mount Everest, you have to pay attention to it to avoid problems. The most convenient way is to use a blood oxygen saturation meter, which can detect the truth in 10 seconds. I see Rob has one, I'll take you to get one tomorrow."
"The only thing left is the hiking. I'll call you in the morning. Go to bed early tonight. We'll set out at 7:30 tomorrow from 2,610 meters in Fakting to 3,440 meters in Namche Bazar. We'll climb 800 meters, and I'll teach you some mountaineering tips by then."
In the evening, Bifang turned off the live broadcast, went out for exercise, and then went back to his room to rest.
At six o'clock in the morning, Bifang opened his eyes. This was the first time he slept in bed during a live broadcast. He was not used to it, but he quickly got up from the bed, put on his clothes, opened the door, and started the live broadcast.
The drone took off immediately.
[So early? It's only half past six, right?]
[Is it still dark today? ]
"Due to the longitude, it is usually dawn after 7 o'clock in spring and summer on Mount Everest." Bifang exhaled a puff of cold mist, which showed that the temperature was still very low in the morning and frost could be clearly seen on the leaves nearby.
"Today is April 21st. I expect to reach the Everest Base Camp in six days. Then I will have less than a month to train. It depends on the weather forecast of the Meteorological Bureau. If the opportunity comes early, there may not even be half a month. So I must increase the intensity of the training. For this reason, I got up early in the morning."
Half an hour later, Bifang, sweating profusely, returned to the house, boiled some water, added some cold water, then went to the yard, took off his clothes, kept the drone out of sight, and poured the hot water over his head.
"Huh! I feel much better." Bifang shook the towel and wiped his face. His blood vessels expanded after the exercise and he was not afraid of the cold at all. Besides, it was not that cold, as the temperature was still above zero.
[Damn, isn't it cold? ]
[Please fly the drone to the right. I can only see a head.]
[Too fierce, is this a real man? Showering outdoors. ]
The sound of water outside the house quickly attracted everyone's attention. It was dawn at this time. Yao Jun blinked, yawned, and stood up. Then he saw Bifang, who was surrounded by mist, walking in from outside the house.
Yao Jun rubbed his eyes vigorously and said in shock: "Fuck, are you going to spontaneously combust? Why are you smoking all over?"
"After taking a shower, get up quickly. Here is this, you all can use it." Bifang put on his clothes and threw out a small bottle.
"What's this?"
Everyone came over and found that it was an alcohol spray.
"Alcohol spray. Go wash your feet later and spray this on them, especially on your toes and heels. After drying them, apply a little alcohol to increase your feet's tolerance and they won't be so tired. I don't tell most people about this."
Yao Jun didn't understand, but was shocked. This was the first time he knew of such a thing: "What's the reason?"
"It's a pain reliever, and it will produce a chemical reaction with the leather, making the shoes softer. Hiking shoes are usually new, and so are the ones we wear. New shoes have the greatest friction, but they can easily rub your feet if you haven't gotten used to them. If you apply some alcohol, they will become softer."
After hearing this, Yao Jun was very excited and immediately went under the bed to start the experiment.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was waiting all the way yesterday!"
"I forgot. I didn't think about it when I left the hotel that day. I left afterwards, so there's no need to bother."
"Grass!"
