Mt. Whitney Hiking 2018 (4) ~ SPO2 value and Heart rate at 12000 feet

SPO2 value and Heart rate at Trail Camp on Mt. Whitney Trail

SPO2 value at 12,000 feet

Elevation of Trail Camp on Mt. Whitney Trail is about 12,000 feet (3,600m) where many people have some symptom of high altitude sickness.
I majored SPO2 value with a pulse oximeter before, however it was very hard to determine which value would be a real value since the majored value kept changed in a wide range.

For this hiking, I carried a one which is used for monitoring SPO2 during sleeping to understand a situation of sleep apnea.  It can measure SPO2 continuously what it looks like when I am in the tent.
Almost all time, SPO2 value was below 90% and the range of the measured range is huge.  It depends on how I breath and what I am doing such as walking and lay down.  This is expected based on the previous measurement with real time measurement.  The range is roughly 70 ~90%.

Overall, the average SPO2 value when I awake is somewhere around 85%.  However it is getting lower when I slept, the value was somewhere 75%.  This is probably due to lower breathing rate when I slept.  As long as I am awake, I might be able to control how I breath intentionally.  However once I fell into sleep, then it is very hard to control.  Also, the range of the measured value during sleeping is probably much smaller than when I am awake.

For heart rate, it is also wide range comparing data in lower elevation and it might be related to SPO 2 value I guess.

Without acclimatization

Based on this data, SPO2 value might be getting lower when people sleep.  I guess it is probably possible to get worse when people sleep in higher elevation without acclimatization.   The reason I woke up often during the night would be one of symptoms of high altitude sickness.

Unfortunately,  this is only data I have now and I do not have any other data to compare, it is very difficult to conclude what happens.   I need to collect more data such as multiple nights with longer stay.  Then I can find out more.

One think I can tell is probably SPO2 range when people is not acclimatized.  It is probably hard to determine what would be the value in this situation.  We might need to find some average during some period.

Data during sleeping at home last night

As a reference, I show a data when I was sleeping at home last night.  SPO2 value and the heart late are much more stable than a data at 12,000 feet.  The heart rate is below 60 bpm and SPO2 value is around 95% overall during night.

I think it is very clear, the data shows impact to human body who is in higher elevation.  I do not see any sign for acclimatization.   I guess it is getting much more stable when people get acclimatized.

It is clearly the range of the change for heart rate is much smaller and it might be a better index for hiking in my opinion.

(To be continue)

Physical Health Checking ~ Colonoscopy

I am basically healthy and I usually did not see doctors except cases I got injury last a several years.  However I am over fifty years old now and I guess it might be a time to have physical health checking now.   Thus, last March, I saw my primary physician.

Colonoscopy

Colonoscopy is one of them.   Some people told me they also did colonoscopy and found some "tubular adenoma" which might turn into cancer.   Since insurance can cover this screening, I also took this screening last week.

Originally, the primary physician referred this the end of March.  However a date I can make an appointment earliest was May 8.   It seemed to be very popular and needed to wait some time.   Before screening, people needs to clear inside colon, they need to follow the instruction including restricted diet, such as no seeds, no vegetable skins, no red color foods / beverages.  A day before, people cannot eat any solid food at all and start drinking medication to clear colon.

Actually the most hard part is probably to drink the medication and water a day before and 5 hours before the procedure.   Then stool becomes thin yellow liquid after the second one.

The procedure itself is probably very easy and no pain at all.   It is not anesthesia, but using a  medication make people sleepy.  In my case, I fell into sleep completely and I did not remember at all.  Actually a doctor explained the summary after the procedure, but I did not remember at all.   I think that is the reason the hospital asks a driver take me home other than driving by myself.   In the United States, it is typical not stay hospital overnight for this procedure.  Therefore people need to go home after that.

The result was the doctor remove 6 polyps and 5 of them are "tubular adenoma" which may trun into cancer.   I am glad to have this screening!!   The doctor suggested to have another screening about 3 years from now.   According to the doctor, they are nothing wrong now, however, to minimize the risk of colon cancer, it is better to take them out.

That is my experience to share in this blog!  I guess it might be good to check this if you are older than 50 years old.