A mountain climber ascends to an altitude where the partial pressure of oxygen i

Question

A mountain climber ascends to an altitude where the partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere is very low.

1). What happens to the climber's ventilation rate?

2. Which chemoreceptor (oxygen or carbon dioxide/pH) would cause this ventilation rate at high altitude? Your answer should reflect that you know the stimuli for change in ventilation rate under different conditions.

3. What happens to plasma concentration of carbon dioxide after a period of time hyperventilation?

4). What happens to the plasma pH after a period of time at high altitude? Your answer should reflect that you understand the relationship between CO2 levels and pH.

5). What happens to levels of erythropoietin in the blood after a period of time at high elevations? Your answer should incldue the stimulus for the release of EPO.

6). How does a low concentration of oxygen in the alveoli affect the state of contraction of pulmonary arterioles?

7). Explain why pulmonary edema is a symptom of altitude sickness. Your answer should demonstrate your understading of fluid exchanges at the capillary level.

Explanation / Answer

Answer 1. Climber ventilation rate increase in order to compensate the decreased oxygen concentration at high altitude.

Answer 2. The chemoreceptor present in the respiratory center sense the high concentration of carbon dioxide that is Hypercapnia in the body. Hypercapnia causes increase in respiratory rate to wash out the carbon dioxide at the high altitude.

Answer 3. The plasma concentration of carbon dioxide decreased after a period of ventilation because hyperventilation causes wash out of carbon dioxide from the lungs at the high altitude.

Answer 4. After a period of time at high altitude, the concentration of carbon dioxide increases in the lungs. This causes acidity in the lungs thus the pH of the plasma decreases. The relationship between carbon dioxide and pH is inversely related. That is when carbon dioxide level increases the pH decreases and vise versa.

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