This March, I am going to climb to Mt Everest Basecamp (EBC), altitude 17,900 feet. Actually I will be going a bit higher to Kalapathhar at 18,500 feet but no one knows what Kalapathhar is, so EBC it is. This is an 8-day trek and I want to do some physiology testing along the way. I am going to bring a pulse oximeter, a sphygmomanometer and some urine dipsticks to do serial urinalysis. I have a pretty strict weight limit. So careful choices need to be made with regard to equipment choices.
In terms of physiology testing I have multiple subjects willing to be part of my science fair.
My questions to the readers of PBF, is what questions can I answer?
I believe that everyone is going to be on acetazolamide.
I am interested in water intake, cramps and exercise fatigue. I could probably get that data with a daily survey and then I could correlate it with pulse oximetry and urine specific gravity at the end of the day’s hike.
I am also interested in peak specific gravity as we go up the mountain. Does it fall with increasing hypoxia? But this may be hopelessly obscured by the acetazolamide.
I would like to do some cognitive testing as we go up the mountain.
What other questions should I try to answer. What other medical instruments should I take? Bioelectrical impedance?
Also remember to donate to multiple myeloma research and my trip to EBC.
