What to pay attention to when you first go to the plateau
Due to the special plateau environment, some comrades will experience altitude sickness to varying degrees after they first go to the plateau.
This health salon invited Chen Zhaoli, a researcher at the Academy of Military Medicine of the Academy of Military Sciences, to answer the questions that comrades might encounter when they first go to the plateau and help them better adapt to the plateau environment.
Question: What is the impact of high altitude low-oxygen environment on the human body?
Chen Zhaoli: The higher the plateau altitude, the more the atmospheric pressure and oxygen partial pressure drop.
The hypoxic environment may lead to hypoxia in the human body. The typical symptoms of hypoxia include headache, nausea, palpitation, shortness of breath, irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite, fatigue, etc.
Lip bruising is also a manifestation of hypoxia, especially when the body just enters the plateau, the body has not yet made corresponding compensatory adaptation to acute hypoxia, the performance is more obvious.
After a period of adaptation, the symptoms of hypoxia will improve.
The high altitude hypoxic environment will also have a certain impact on learning and memory. As the body adapts to the high altitude environment, learning and memory capabilities can be gradually restored.
Question: Why should you beware of colds on the plateau?
How to prevent colds?
Chen Zhaoli: A cold is a common cause of high altitude pulmonary edema.
Symptoms such as nasal congestion and unsmooth breathing usually occur when you catch a cold. In addition, low altitude oxygen partial pressure can more easily lead to hypoxia in the body and aggravate altitude sickness.
Moreover, a cold will prolong the body's acclimatization process to the high altitude hypoxic environment.
After the officers and soldiers go to the plateau, they should keep warm and prevent the cold, and add or remove clothing in time according to the weather conditions.
There is a big temperature difference between day and night on the plateau, so officers and soldiers should take as little bath as possible when they first go to the plateau, and avoid catching cold when washing.
If a comrade-in-arms catches a cold, they should stay still and reduce exercise when the symptoms are mild; when the symptoms are more severe, oxygen can be used to relieve the symptoms of hypoxia to prevent pulmonary edema, and seek medical attention in time.
Question: Why is it easy to get thirsty on the plateau?
Chen Zhaoli: Low humidity in the plateau, high evaporation rate, increased body heat dissipation, faster breathing rate and other factors will increase the moisture lost by skin evaporation and breathing, making lips and skin dry.
After the officers and soldiers go to the plateau, the intake of water can be appropriately increased. It is recommended to drink 2.5-4 liters of water per day, small amounts for several times.
Do not drink too much water before going to bed, so as not to increase the burden on the heart.
Question: Why does physical strength decrease after going to the plateau?
Chen Zhaoli: After the officers and soldiers move from the plain to the plateau, their bodies will be affected to varying degrees. The severity and duration of their symptoms are related to the altitude, the speed of entering the plateau, the season, the amount of activity, and individual differences.
At altitudes above 1500 meters, the work capacity (working capacity) decreases by about 10% for every 1000 meters above sea level; heavy physical work is performed in areas with an altitude of 3000-4000 meters, which is equivalent to extremely heavy manual work in plains; at altitudes of 4000-4800 Medium physical labor in the rice area is equivalent to heavy physical labor in plains; light physical labor in areas above 5000 meters above sea level is equivalent to heavy or extremely heavy physical labor in plains.
It is generally believed that there is a difference of 1-1.5 labor intensity levels between plateau labor and plain labor, so comrades in arms feel that their physical strength decreases after going to the plateau.
Question: Why is the nose easy to dry after going to the plateau?
How to deal with nose bleeding?
Chen Zhaoli: The plateau climate is cold and dry, with a large temperature difference between day and night, and officers and soldiers are prone to dry rhinitis.
If the nasal cavity is often dry, apply grease ointment to the nasal cavity before going to bed, and adjust the indoor humidity, such as sprinkling water on the floor or using a humidifier.
Dry nasal cavity may cause nose bleeding.
When bleeding from the nose, do not blow your nose forcefully. Use your fingers to pinch both sides of the nose, breathe deeply through your mouth, keep your head upright, or use cotton to plug the bleeding nasal cavity.
If you still have heavy bleeding or repeated bleeding from the nasal cavity after using the above methods, you should go to the hospital in time.
Question: How to prevent snow blindness scientifically?
Chen Zhaoli: When officers and soldiers perform tasks on the plateau snow, they should wear colored glasses, or cut a horizontal gap with a piece of cardboard and fix them in front of them, and see through the gap; try to wear a brim hat, lower the brim of the hat, and reduce eye cracks (squinting) ), avoid direct sunlight.
If officers and soldiers develop snow blindness, no special treatment is needed when the symptoms are mild, and they can recover on their own after a few days; if the symptoms are severe, they must be administered under the guidance of a doctor.
Question: How to practice training before going to the plateau?
Chen Zhaoli: There are several methods that officers and soldiers can refer to when they exercise in uniform.
One is climbing or walking short distances with heavy loads.
Short-distance weight-bearing walking can adopt a normal speed—quick step—normal speed—running—normal speed, or normal speed—quick step—running—normal speed.
Different travel methods and proportions, climbing height, slope, etc. can be determined according to the degree of exercise and the station conditions.
The second is physical exercise.
Officers and soldiers can perform physical exercises such as weight-bearing walking, weight-bearing mountaineering, long-distance running, breath-holding exercise, swimming, etc., according to different conditions, increasing the amount of exercise daily and increasing the body's oxygen consumption.
The third is a stepped acclimatization.
Stepped acclimatization is an effective way to acclimatize to high altitude hypoxic environment.
Before entering a higher altitude area, officers and soldiers may stay at a lower altitude area for a period of time, and then stay for a period of time after reaching a medium altitude, and finally reach a predetermined altitude.
For example, stay at an altitude of 2500 meters, 3000 meters, and 4000 meters respectively for 1-2 weeks, and then enter a plateau at an altitude of 5000 meters.
When troops are performing step training at different heights, they can combine exercises of appropriate intensity, such as long-distance running, mountain climbing, and weight-bearing walking.
Within 1-2 days after reaching the predetermined height, you can do morning exercises, walking and breathing exercises (deep breathing, 3-5 times a day, 10 minutes each time) and other light activities; after 3 days, you can do push-ups, dumbbells, parallel bars and other exercises ; After that, long-distance running training can be carried out.
Officers and soldiers must be trained according to their own conditions, not blindly.
Question: How do officers and soldiers exercise scientifically after going to the plateau?
Chen Zhaoli: Exercise should be controlled within the intensity that you feel relaxed and happy, and can't perform overload exercise.
The amount of daily exercise should be adapted to the physical condition. When the physical condition is good, the amount of exercise can be increased appropriately, and the amount of exercise should be reduced or stopped when the body is unwell.
Make preparations before exercise, relax after exercise, and take measures to prevent altitude sickness and altitude cold injury.
Troops living on the plateau for a long time can carry out adaptive exercises, such as using morning exercises to climb mountains or short-range weight-bearing marches 1-2 times a week, and fully armed marches 2-3 times a month at a speed of 4-6 km/h.
Officers and soldiers must adhere to the principles of scientific training. For example, at the beginning of comprehensive training, physical training should be given more weight, and various movement skills training should be interspersed.
Endurance training can be used for long-distance running or mountaineering; speed training can be used for sprinting and ball sports; strength training should gradually increase the weight.
After that, the focus was on skill training, with intermittent physical training.
Question: In what situations should officers and soldiers take oxygen?
What are the precautions when inhaling oxygen?
Chen Zhaoli: If officers and soldiers have symptoms of acute altitude sickness, low-flow oxygen should be inhaled. The recommended oxygen flow is 1-2 liters/min.
If officers and soldiers develop high-altitude pulmonary edema or high-altitude cerebral edema, under the guidance of a doctor, a short period of medium-flow (2-4 liters/min), high-flow (4-6 liters/min) oxygen, or low-flow oxygen should be performed under the guidance of a doctor. Continue to inhale oxygen.
After officers and soldiers go to the plateau, if they experience sleep-disorders of varying degrees such as periodic breathing, frequent awakenings, and respiratory distress, it may aggravate the body's hypoxia and induce cardiovascular disease and altitude sickness.
Comrades with sleep disordered breathing can continue low-flow oxygen before going to bed.
Officers and soldiers should pay attention to the time and concentration when inhaling oxygen.
When you first enter the plateau, the body adapts compensatively to environmental changes. If you inhale a lot of oxygen during this period, it will reduce the stimulating effect of hypoxia on the body and delay the process of actively adapting to the plateau hypoxic environment.
Inhalation of high concentrations of oxygen may cause toxic reactions and oxygen poisoning.
In the case of body hypoxia, sudden inhalation of a large amount of pure oxygen may have an "abnormal effect of oxygen", which is manifested as a short-term hypoxic symptom aggravation or deterioration of other body conditions, such as headache, blurred vision, muscle twitching, etc.
Generally speaking, the more severe the hypoxia, the higher the incidence of oxygen inhalation symptoms.
It is recommended that officers and soldiers inhale moderately according to their own vital capacity and tolerance to oxygen.
Pay attention to the oxygen humidity when inhaling oxygen.
The oxygen released from the compressed oxygen cylinder is generally extremely dry, and the humidity is mostly lower than 4%. If officers and soldiers suffer from nasopharyngeal diseases or poor oxygen humidification, it will dry the airways and even induce asthma.
Wang Jingyi Liu Weili