ABSTRACT
Having examined the phenotypic variation and other health issues in long-term residents of high altitude, this chapter examines another major group of people who experience high altitude on a regular basis, unacclimatized lowlanders traveling to high altitude. There are two major groups of unacclimatized lowlanders who ascend to high altitude, those engaged in a wide range of endeavors that are best classified as leisure activities and those working at high altitude on an intermittent basis. Unacclimatized lowlanders who ascend to high altitude are exposed to the effects of acute hypoxia within minutes to days of their arrival at high altitude. To relieve the hypoxia of the passengers exposed to an altitude of over 5000 m on the Golmud-Lhasa railway, each coach of the train is equipped with an oxygen generator. The air conditioning maintains a slight positive pressure so that any leaks are to the outside.
