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VOLUME 38 • NUMBER 42 • SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
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TheVillagerNewspaper
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Higher altitude can help or hurt when it comes to COVID-19
BY FREDA MIKLIN GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
Most people with asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), or any other condition that results in a compromised respiratory system know that it is more difficult for them to breathe at higher elevations. That is because they have trouble getting enough oxygen due to their condition and the decreased atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes results in decreased available oxygen. Even for those with normal lung capacity, it is not uncommon to experience altitude sickness resulting in dizziness, headaches, fatigue, and/or shortness of breath. Since the coronavirus attacks the bronchial airway cells of its victims, making breathing more difficult, it is easy to understand why going to a higher elevation when you already have COVID-19 could significantly
The grape-like clusters are coronavirus enveloping the tubular bronchial airway cells in a human respiratory tract highly magnified by an electron microscope.
Illustration courtesy of New England Journal of Medicine
worsen the impact of the virus. There is another aspect of the disease that appears to work in a different way. In June, researchers associated with U.S. National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health analyzed epidemiological data to determine whether COVID-19 victims who live at elevations higher than 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) experienced less severe symptoms than
those who live at sea level. Researchers had already determined that the coronavirus attacks its victim by attaching itself to ACE2 proteins found in cells of multiple human organs, including the respiratory tract, lungs, heart, kidneys, and intestines. People who live at higher elevations are known to have fewer of these ACE2 proteins because of how the body acclimates to the lesser level of
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oxygen at altitude. Researchers surmised that the lesser number of ACE2 proteins might provide some protection from the harshness of the disease. Scientists studied the severity of symptoms and outcomes in COVID-19 patients in Tibet (average altitude is 14,750 feet), Bolivia (average altitude is 12,000 feet), and Ecuador (average altitude is 9,350). They found that patients living
in those countries experienced significantly less severe symptoms and there were many fewer deaths compared to coronavirus patients living at lower elevations, even taking into account that Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is connected to Wuhan, China, where the virus first appeared, by train, bus, and air, indicating that there is significant commerce and tourism between the two cities. The scientists pointed out that they did not conclusively account for all other possible environmental factors that may have affected how sick COVID-19 victims at different altitudes became. This study is one of many ongoing efforts around the globe to explore how the novel coronavirus works. Few would disagree there is much work yet to be done to fully understand it. Fmiklin.villager@gmail.com