REFLECTOR: Flying High

[Tom Martino]

Whatta ya -- a doctor or something?  ;)


-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Jorge Bujanda
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 7:21 PM
To: Velocity Builder's Forum. Reflector
Subject: REFLECTOR: Flying High [heur]

Gentlemen,

The headache is not the problem. What is important is what it means. If 
you get a headache, it is likely that you have gone too high. The 
headache is a sign of an important and fairly acute decrease of oxygen 
delivery to the brain due to sudden decrease in barometric (oxygen) 
pressure, due in turn to high altitude.

 From a neurological perspective, the onset of headache due to hypoxia 
is proven to be accompanied by subtle and unnoticed, but increasing 
judgment impairment, coordination loss, decreased reaction time, visual 
impairment, drowsiness, excitement, carefree feeling, overestimation of 
self-capabilities and exaggerated self-confidence (very dangerous in the

cockpit), disorientation and loss of time sense. As you can see, 
although the most uncomfortable, the headache is the least dangerous of 
all the events described. It has been proven that there is increasing 
"appreciable" neurological handicap between 7000 and 12000 feet and 
"considerable" neurological handicap between 12000 and 15000 feet in 
physically "normal" individuals.

 From a cardiovascular perspective, there is an obvious decrease in the 
oxygenation of the heart and any circulatory and cardiac problem (known 
or unknown) will be aggravated by such decreased delivery of oxygen to 
the heart. Any illness or factor affecting proper tissue oxygenation 
such as anemia, hypertension, circulatory problems, heart disease, 
emphysema (long-time smokers), asthma, and even simple things such as 
been in the process of getting over upper respiratory allergies or 
infections may further worsen oxygen delivery to the heart and brain. 
This means that, under these circumstances, you might not tolerate 
altitudes that you might have tolerated in the past under "normal" 
conditions.

More importantly, for reasons I will not detail here, any stressful 
situation (i.e., encountering bad, or worse than expected weather and 
climbing higher to avoid it) causes rapid and shallow breathing, as well

as increased tissue oxygen consumption which will further decrease 
oxygen delivery to the heart and brain and may become the last factor to

precipitate catastrophe.

Pay attention... borderline (high) flying does not come without risk. 
The effects of altitude are insidious and are not something to be taken 
lightly. A simple headache may be just a warning sign, but also, a 
life-saving sign pointing to a bigger underlying problem.

Draw your own conclusions based on what your current physical condition 
might be (known or unknown) and the physiological facts stated above.

I hope this helps you increase safety awareness and I highly recommend 
that you remind yourselves of all this as you have to take those two 
aspirins after landing.

Regards,
Jorge Bujanda
XL FG
Palmdale, CA

"Make your best case... not the best case."
"Spare the noise... convince through silence."




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