Vital capacity, exercise performance, and blood gases at altitude as related to age

Vital capacity (VC) rarely may decrease 35-60% in healthy mountain climbers associated with high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). In the age range 58-71 yr, five of six men during a week or more on White Mt. in 1962 had decreases in VC from 20 to 32% without frank symptoms of HAPE, Dill, one of the five, had decreases in VC again on White Mt. in 1977 and 1978. Yet none of 11 young climbers on White Mt. studied by Hultgren (personal communication) had a significant decrease in VC. Dill's arterial O2 saturation at age 87 at 485 Torr was about 79% in rest and 74% when VO2 was 0.74 ml/min.kg. His aerobic capacity at age 87 yr was 18 ml/min.kg at 695 Torr and 15 at 485 Torr.