Influence of highlands on the state of human body adaptation

Abstract

The article identifies and analyses the state of adaptation of the participants of the tourist trip to the conditions of stay in the mountains. The functional reactions of the human body in mountain conditions are affected by a decrease in atmospheric pressure, atmospheric density, decrease in oxygen partial pressure, decrease in humidity, increased solar radiation, and low temperature. Adaptation to the highlands is largely determined by age and athletic skills. Tourists, especially those who came to the mountains for the first time, adapt to new conditions more slowly. A group of tourists made a mountain hike of the III category of complexity lasting 14 days. The travel area was near village Arkhyz. In preparing the route, the goal was to go through a sports route and to determine the impact of the highlands on the human body in practice. It is known that adaptation occurs faster for people who are regularly under conditions of artificial or natural hypoxia. Athletes, who often have endurance loads, can adapt to the conditions of the middle mountains and highlands faster than non-athletes. Also, the process of adaptation is much faster for people who make extensive use of intense physical activity.
 The article shows the dynamics of blood pressure and heart rate of a group of tourists in the highlands. The obtained data characterize the adaptive body reactions.
 After analysing the state of adaptation of the tourist trip participants to the mountain conditions, it can be argued that the period of adaptation of the participants' organisms to the height is different. It could be noticed, that on the eighth day the half of the group had "tension of adaptation mechanisms" and "unsatisfactory adaptation" of the organism to mountainous living conditions, also with the lack of stable adaptation. The rest of the group had better indicators of the state of adaptation on the fifth and sixth day of stay in the highlands. These indicators were characterised as "satisfactory adaptation" with further manifestations of sustainable adaptation, indicating economization of body functions.