What to do if your heart beats too fast in the plateau

In plateau areas, increased heart rate is mostly due to lack of oxygen and a compensatory increase in heart rate. This is very common and is considered altitude sickness. The key lies in how much the heartbeat increases, how fast it is, and whether it affects breathing. If the heartbeat exceeds 120 beats per minute for a long time, it may cause tachyarrhythmia cardiomyopathy, which can have serious consequences. So what are the countermeasures when you experience altitude sickness after arriving at the plateau? Come and have a look.

Countermeasures for altitude sickness (high nutrition)

1. Environmental characteristics of the plateau

1. Hypoxia From sea level to an altitude of 100,000 meters, the oxygen content in the air is 21%. However, air pressure decreases with increasing altitude, which makes the air thinner and therefore the oxygen pressure also decreases. It is estimated that 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 become smaller due to the thinning of the air, thus leading to hypoxia.

2. Cold According to meteorological measurements, the temperature drops by 1 degree for every 150-meter increase in altitude. Generally, the temperature drops by 6.5 degrees for every 1,000-meter increase in altitude. Therefore, the temperature in plateau areas is colder than other areas at the same latitude.

3. Low humidity The humidity on the plateau is lower, which increases the amount of water excreted from the human body. It is estimated that the amount of water excreted through breathing on the plateau is 1.5 liters per day, and the amount of water excreted through the skin is 2.3 liters. Excluding sweating, this is 1 times the total amount of body fluids excreted by the human body in the plains at the same latitude.

4. The sunlight radiation is stronger at an altitude of 3,600 meters. The ionizing radiation and ultraviolet rays in the universe are three times stronger and have three times more penetration into the skin than at sea level. In addition, the reflection of these rays from the snow is also very strong. It has been determined that snow can reflect 90% of ultraviolet rays back to the ground surface, while the reflectivity of grass is only 9%-17%. In other words, due to the effect of snow accumulation, the human body will suffer double radiation from ultraviolet rays. The environmental characteristics of the plateau are indeed extraordinary. In response to this, the human body does not respond passively, but makes corresponding adjustments based on the environment. For short-term tourists, the adjustment is temporary, but people who have lived on the plateau for thousands of years have already developed adaptive changes.

2. What changes will people’s bodies undergo?

Two hours after the blood system enters the plateau, due to lack of oxygen, the body begins to produce too many red blood cells to adapt to the hypoxic environment. Hemoglobin increases by 1.1 grams per week. After about 6 weeks, the body's hemoglobin will increase to 1.4 times the original level, which is about 20 grams. This phenomenon of hyperhemoglobinemia is very common in plateau areas, but after returning to low altitude areas, the hyperhemoglobinemia will gradually return to its original level and mild anemia will occur after continuing to decrease for 3 weeks. The hemoglobin level then returns to normal. Therefore, it is not advisable to return to the plateau for about one month after returning to a low altitude area from the plateau. Otherwise, the human body in an anemic state is more likely to get altitude sickness.