Often swelling occurs in cornea mountaineers, but seems not vision at a height of 6,300 metres (approx. 20 670 m) influence, the publication of the report in the February issue of archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives Journals.
"Great high mountain climbing a popular among healthy is sport leisure", the authors write as background information in the article. "To hold altitude climbing due to the exposure to atmospheric conditions hypobaric with each other following a cut oxygen saturation, acute illness mountains and high altitude can cerebral oedema rare, but deadly.". Changes to the cornea, which transparent membrane that covers the front of the eye, climb in altitude and can result in potentially dangerous vision loss.
Martina Monika Bosch, MD, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, and his colleagues studied the effects of the altitude climbing on the thickness of the cornea in 28 healthy volunteer climb Mount Mustagh ATA in Western China. The climbers were assigned two different ascending paths a shorter time randomized with a group of Acclimate before climbing 6 265 m. corneal thickness, Visual acuity and blood oxygen levels were measured before, during and after their promotion to the climbers, and also evaluated the symptoms of acute mountain sickness.
In groups, with two patterns of the rise of thickness of the cornea increases with the height and dropped hand in hand after the departure and the amount of the reduction in oxygen going blood with this increase. The thickness of the cornea will learn a reinforced the group with a very short time of the acclimatization. However, no significant fall in Visual acuity in groups was observed.
If control degree of saturation of oxygen and age, there is a link between the symptoms of the evil of the mountains and the thickness of the cornea. It was perhaps because the General vulnerability of these people for insufficient oxygen supply.
The exact cause of the corneal swelling during the ascent remains controversial, note the authors. The results suggest that the supply of the body of oxygen with the aqueous humour - the liquid inside the eyeball, between the cornea and IRIS - may be more important in the layers of the cornea of oxygen than previously assumed.
"" It seems that Visual on any of the cornea in good health despite the presence of edema in height will not be affected to 6,300 meters,"closed." However, it is likely that climbs in more extreme heights - about 8 000 metres or approximately 26 000 feet - can lead that great damage to the cornea, leading to a dangerous visual loss.
This project was supported by a research grant of the Switzerland Research, National Science Foundation, a research grant from the Swiss mountain medicine society, aid for the eye clinic, University Hospital Zurich and by a grant from Pfizer, Switzerland. For more information, including the other authors, the author article contributions and affiliations, financial, funding and support, and so on.