The best thing about flying first class?
Getting drunk fast on free booze!
Actually that doesn’t happen, but other things do happen to your body at altitude.
Hey guys!
An Earthbound Amy with you on DNews today.
That you get drunk faster at high altitudes is the myth people love because, well, a lot
of humans like alcohol’s effects.
The problem is, that doesn’t really happen.
Multiple studies have shown that regardless of where you drink, your blood alcohol level
will be the same.
If you feel loopy and weird after one drink on a plane, it’s more likely your body is
reacting to the altitude itself.
But before we leave the Earth, let’s start with where many of us live: at sea level,
or thereabouts.
This is where humans have evolved to live comfortably.
With 1 bar of atmospheric pressure, the air is thick and carries plenty oxygen molecules
to oxygenate our blood to keep our organs healthy.
And because the pressure is greater outside our bodies than inside, it's easier for our
lungs to fill, which helps keep our heart rates and blood pressures at a good level.
But as you rise off the planet, say climbing a mountain, the air pressure steadily drops
off; it’s gravity that keeps the atmosphere on the surface.
As the atmosphere thins, there’s less oxygen available for your body, and things start
to go bad pretty fast.
Most of us will experience altitude at one point in our lives flying in an airplane.
Though a commercial jet flies at about 30,000 feet, the cabin is pressurized, just not to
sea level.
It mimics about 8,000 feet.
It’s harder on your body, but not so hard that you would really notice.
At 8,000 feet, the air pressure is lower so there's less oxygen available.
You might feel some symptoms of hypoxia, which is the condition where too little oxygen reaches
the brain.
Your respiration rate might increase, too, as your body tries to get more oxygen out
of the thin air, which in turn increases your heart rate as blood pumps furiously through
your body, focusing on vital organs.
This could make you feel sick.
An increase in blood to the brain can cause headaches, while less blood to the digestive
tract can leave you feeling nauseous and kill your appetite.
But what if that cabin wasn’t pressurized and you were exposed to the environment at
that jet's cruising altitude of about 30,000 feet?
Well, that’s only a little higher than Everest’s peak, which is at 29,029 feet, so we know
what happens.
And it's really not good.
Above 8,000 feet, humans become susceptible to altitude sickness.
At 18,000 feet, there's half as much oxygen in the air as there is at sea level.
The area above 25,000 feet is colourfully referred to as the Death Zone, and at Everest’s
peak, the air is so thin it has only one-third the oxygen concentration of air at sea level.
As the body tries to get more oxygen, your respiration rate increases, as does your heart
rate to keep your organs from starving.
And even breathing is harder!
At 29,000 feet, the air pressure is so low it's actually lower than the pressure in your
lungs, so you have to work for each breath.
The stress on your body can lead to incredible headaches, confusion, and complications.
One is HAPE, which is swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in the lungs.
It starts with a cough, weakness, and shortness of breath, and it can be fatal within 24 hours
but can be cured if you get more oxygen.
Rarer but scarier is HACE, the same condition affecting your brain that can seriously impair
your functionality and demands medical attention.
So how do people ski in Colorado or climb Everest?
Acclimatization!
It usually takes a few days to acclimatize to a higher altitude, but your body will become
more efficient at taking deep breaths, producing more red blood cells to carry haemoglobin,
the pressure in your pulmonary arteries increases so your lungs become more efficient.
And if you’re doing all that, getting drunk faster should be the furthest thing from your mind!
And speaking of flying, do you guys like to pass the time on long flights binge-watching your favorite shows?
Now you can watch all kinds of great content on the new DiscoveryGo app. Including one of my all time favorites: When We Left Earth.
You can check it out at the link below or download it from your app store.
So we know why we might feel a little but light headed on airplanes, but how can we actually breathe inside a sky tube?
Trace has the answer to that question in this episode of DNews right here.
Would you guys ever climb Everest? Let us know in the comments below. And subscribe to DNews for new episodes every day of the week.