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ALMA MEMO #477
Working At High Altitude: Medical Problems, Misconceptions, and Solutions
John B. West (Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego)
and Anthony Readhead (Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California Institute of Technology)
2003-10-15
Telescopes are being placed at increasingly high altitudes. The summit of Mauna Kea,
Hawaii (altitude 4200 m) has been a popular site for some time, but more recently telescopes
have been located on the Chajnantor plateau in north Chile at an altitude of 5050 m. This will
also be the site of the multinational Atacama Large Millimeter Array. Other nearby sites up to
5800 m have been used for various instruments. Although remote observing is increasingly
employed this is not always possible, and it will always be necessary to have some human beings
at the sites. These altitudes can have serious effects on mental and physical performance and
quality of sleep. The deleterious effects are reduced by the process of acclimatization but it is a misconception to argue that this returns mental and physical performance to normal. In fact fully acclimatized astronomers on the summit of Mauna Kea are so oxygen-deprived that if this was
caused by lung disease at sea level they would be entitled to treatment by continuous oxygen
therapy. All the medical effects of high altitude are caused by the low partial pressure of oxygen
in the inspired air, and so the most effective way of improving human performance is to add
supplementary oxygen. Recent technical advances allow this to be done very efficiently by
oxygen enrichment of room air. The occupants of the room are generally unaware of the added
oxygen but their mental and physical performance is significantly enhanced. Oxygen enrichment
for altitudes of 5000 m and above should be mandatory and would also be helpful at more
modest altitudes such as 4200 m.
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pdf version of ALMA Memo #477.
Last modified: 2003-10-29
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