Human Adaptation to Life at High Altitude

Abstract

Living at high altitude (HA) represents a daily challenge that over two hundred million people worldwide have to face. Populations living at HA are distributed mainly in Asia, Africa and America and they live in these settling with different periods of antiquity and evolution. Permanent life at HA is associated with a pathology unique in these places known as chronic mountain sickness or lack of adaptation to live at HA, which is characterized by excessive erythrocytosis. It has been reported that oxidative stress is increased at people acutely and chronically exposed at HA hypoxia. This may explain some features of the adaptation of highlanders. The present review summarizes findings related to different strategies of adaptation in populations living at HA. As features of human adaptation at HA we review data related to birth weight, gestational age, preeclampsia, hemoglobin and chronic mountain sickness in populations at HA and how gene evolution drives adaptation.