Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance (50 page)

See also
temperature, body

heat illness,
133
,
134
,
138
,
187

heat-tolerant bacteria,
142

helicopter

rescue by,
14–15
,
208
,
234–35

search,
135

heliox,
176

helium, breathing of, in diving,
176–77

hematocrit,
218
,
266

hemoglobin,
163
,
195

Hermanigildo (Amazon boy),
23–34
,
63–65
,
276
,
287

Heyerdahl, Thor,
101
,
108–9

high altitude,
183–235

adaptation to,
210–13

diseases at,
191–92
,
213–14

physiological limit of,
213

practice of medicine at,
15–16
,
196–97
,
204–10
,
213–19
,
222–35

settlements at,
209
,
213

high-altitude flatus,
214

high-altitude toothache,
213–14

high-pressure nervous syndrome,
176

Himalayas,
190–91
,
209

hippocampus,
71
,
118

Hoffman, Jeff,
255

hole, getting in, to escape heat,
144

horizontal position of body,
244

Hottentots,
150

houseplants, jungle origin of,
67–68

Hubble Space Telescope,
255

Hughes, Andrew, Jane, Matthew and Sam,
126
,
133–34
,
135
,
139
,
143
,
280

human body

adaptation to heat,
149–51

chemical reactions in,
127

complexity of, as system,
5

designed for tropics,
200

deterioration of, in outer space,
265–73

evolution of, not yet complete,
48
,
51
,
151
,
204

functioning of, in extreme environments,
12–13

hollow spaces in,
161–62

innate responses of,
13
,
33–34

internal heat generated by,
185–86

protein in,
112–13

self-burning of, during starvation,
112–13
,
122

training of,
141–42

water content of,
106
,
130–32
,
161

water pressure on, in dives,
161–63
,
165

humans

origin of,
128
,
212

place in the food chain,
101

survival and prevalence of,
57–58
,
272
,
278
,
281

hunger

dying of,
112–14
,
145

sensation of,
118
,
186

“hunter reflex,”
214–15

hunting,
149

huts,
62

Hwang, Emma,
238

Hyakutake (comet),
221

hyaluronidase,
46

hydrogen, breathing of, in diving,
177

hyperbaric chamber,
178–79

hyperthermophiles,
142

hypnosis,
288

hypothalamus,
87
,
129
,
135
,
139
,
143
,
193
,
194
,
205–6
,
214–15
,
217
,
259

hypothermia,
233
,
288

self-willed recovery from,
235

treating,
225–26
,
230–31

Ice Age,
167–68
,
170
,
204

immune system,
266

inhibition,
118–19

injuries, major, pain blocked in,
27–28

insect repellent,
36
,
53
,
75

insects

bites,
36

in food,
51

instincts, primitive,
216

overriding of,
5
,
201–2

International Space Station (ISS),
238–41
,
250
,
253–55

intestines,
214

Israel,
138
,
167

IV fluid,
197
,
207–8
,
230
,
234

Jahoda, Bill,
26

Japan,
160

jerboa,
149

Jose (Papagos Indian guide),
152–53

judgment, poor,
219

jungle,
17–83

diseases in,
35–38

native knowledge of,
56
,
61
,
73

practice of medicine in,
18

Kalahari desert,
148
,
202

Kami (porter),
219

Kamler, Kenneth (author)

initiated in extreme medicine,
7–16

medical training,
6–7

as witch doctor,
38–39

Kennedy, John F, Jr.,
249

“Khumbu cough,”
204

Khumbu Glacier,
192

kidneys,
108
,
109
,
120
,
130
,
132
,
145
,
194–95
,
266

knowledge

loss of, in new generations,
73
,
80–82

store of, as survival tool,
36
,
56
,
146–47
,
275

Koncha (kitchen boy),
205–10
,
213

Kon-Tiki
,
101

krill,
101

Kufka, Julianne,
276–77

lactic acid,
211–12

landmarks,
145–46
,
148

language, of author and native informants,
9
,
25
,
69
,
75

latrines and toilets,
49–50
,
78
,
257

Lazarev, Vasily,
246

Lazutkin, Aleksandr,
251

leg

atrophied,
48

broken,
272–74

deterioration of, from nonuse,
266

effect of cold,
225

Leonov, Aleksei,
254

lidocaine,
27
,
192

life rafts and boats,
91–111

keeping afloat,
94–95

marine life attached to and following,
96–97

light, bending of, in water,
95–96
,
180

light stick,
180

Lim, Poon,
102

limbic system,
217

limb-salvage reflex,
214–15

lithium hydroxide,
258

liver

as food,
104

food storage by,
103
,
112

parasites in,
35–36
,
37

llama,
212

Lovell, Jim,
257

luck,
275–76

lungs,
87
,
90
,
131
,
193
,
212
,
244

diseases of,
192
,
205–6

survival capacity of,
89

water in,
87

when diving,
161–63

Lycra running suit,
144

machete,
24
,
54–55

machines, monitoring by,
268–69

Makarov, Oleg,
246

malaria,
35–36

mammals

desert,
140
,
142–45

diving,
195–96

four-legged,
149–50

high-altitude,
212–13

manioc,
63
,
74

Marathon des Sables,
124–25
,
135
,
146

marathon running,
139
,
141–42

mariners, cannibal tradition of,
116–17

Mars, imagined voyage to,
242–73

Mary-Jeanne
,
111–14

Masai people,
150

Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
16

masturbating, self-punishment for,
26

Mayol, Jacques,
164

McGee, W. J.,
152–53

meals, sociability at,
74
,
196

median nerve,
93

medical equipment and supplies

donated,
197

field-testing of,
15–16

native,
67–73

planned and packed for extreme environments,
7–8
,
196–97

medicine

practiced in extreme environments,
6–16

practiced on natives,
8–9
,
14–15
,
25–32
,
36–38
,
48–49
,
192

training in, Western and native,
80

meditation,
71

Mediterranean Basin,
167

medulla,
217

melanin,
150

melatonin,
256
,
265

memory,
110
,
148

mental discipline

and body control,
164

practicing, to overcome emotional and mental obstacles,
279

and survival,
113

Mestre, Audrey,
164–66

metabolic reactions, speed of,
131

Mignonette
,
117
,
118

migration,
204

mind

reality of beliefs held by,
52
,
288

as software,
282

miners, in extreme environments,
149
,
213

mirage,
137

Mir
space station,
251–53

mittens,
185

Mojave Desert,
151–52

Mongols,
210

moon pool,
178
,
239

Morocco,
167

mosquito,
35–36
,
75
,
276

mountains

climbing of, preparation needed,
7–8

descending in the dark,
220
,
221

gods on top of,
215

Mount Aucanquilcha (Andes),
213

Mount Everest,
2
,
15–16
,
190–91
,
268

author’s expeditions to,
12
,
183–235

camps on,
192
,
198
,
208

deaths on,
15
,
201
,
218–19
,
222
,
225
,
227

disasters of 1996,
221–35

multicelled organisms,
58

muscle relaxant,
68

muscles

cold’s effect on,
203

efficient,
141

electric charge from,
40
,
45

food storage by,
103
,
112
,
113

how they work,
45

internal heat generated by,
186

need to use,
122
,
265

oxygen supply in,
195–96

slow-twitch and fast-twitch,
141

myoglobin,
163
,
195–96

Namba, Yasuko,
222

NASA,
15–16
,
237
,
258–59
,
268

National Geographic
,
12
,
190
,
220

native cultures, attacked by modern civilization,
80–83

nausea,
92–93
,
250

navigation,
145–46

Nazi experiments,
138

Neanderthals,
160

neck,
225

NEEMO,
237

Nepal,
190

nerves,
27

cut,
30–34

signals between,
69

neurological exam,
38

neuroma,
30–31

neuron,
289–90

neurotransmitter,
45
,
69
,
290

New York City, as habitat,
18

nifedipine,
208
,
230

nitric oxide,
211

nitrogen

in air, breathing of,
169–71
,
175

in blood,
13–14

of protein,
104

nitrogen narcosis,
169–71

NOAA,
237

noble feelings, evolutionary reason for,
97

nocturnal animals,
144

nostrils,
162

nylon shell,
184–85

NympheaWater,
167–70

oceans,
84–123

crossings,
84–85
,
94
,
111

size of,
91–92

survival records,
102

Ong-Chu (cook on Everest),
205
,
210

opal miners of Australia,
149

operating table, in the field,
26–27

orbital speed,
246
,
249

orientation, sense of,
70
,
92
,
93
,
247–50

osmosis,
132

osteoporosis,
265
,
270

otolith,
247

out-of-body experience,
154–55
,
173
,
289

overweight persons, survival of,
120–22

oxygen

extracted by lungs,
87
,
193