d) In the Andean highlands of Bolivia, the Aymara living at very high altitudes
ID: 3523215 • Letter: D
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d) In the Andean highlands of Bolivia, the Aymara living at very high altitudes have significantly greater lung capacities than those of primarily lowlander or Spanish descent. Many argue that this is due to growing up at extremely high altitudes which increases their chest and lung size in order to get more oxygen into the body from the thin air. Others are now arguing that genes also cause the dramatic increase in lung capacity. The table below summarizes some of the averages for males (living at very high altitudes) of primarily Aymara versus European ancestry2. Remember that height plays a role in determining TLC. Aymaran men have an average height of 144.9 cm and women 136.1 cm. In the US, the average male height is 177.6cm and for women it is 163.2cm. Those of European ancestry who live in the same communities as the Aymarans US. will be somewhere between the average heights for the Aymarans and the Table 6: High Altiude Males from the Andcan Highlands Measure (ml) Aymara Ancestry European Ancestry 5909 ml TLC VC FEV RV IRV ERV 4044 3523 1822 2511 1438 5407 ml 3893 3369 1465 2411 1352 Compare the TLC and VC values in Table 5 and Table 6. o How do the Aymaras compare to their neighbors of European ancestry in Table 6? How does height affect VC and what would this suggest about the averages for each group? oExplanation / Answer
d) The Aymarans have significantly greater lung volumes and capacities than their European counterparts. The Total Lung Capacity of the the Aymaran ancestry was much greater than that of European ancestry which is mainly due to increased Residual Volume and Vital Capacity. This leads to an increase in the rest of the pulmonary functions too. Vital capacity is defined as the maximum amount of air that is expelled from the lungs after maximum inhalation. This depends on several factors one of which is height. Height is usually directly related to Vital capacity, given the rest of the parameters remain normalized. While this might indicate that the Aymaran ancestry are taller than their European counterparts which results in greater volumes, this contradicts the given data. This suggests that some other factors come into play here. According to this study the average height of the European ancestry is greater than those of the Aymarans; which would mean that they have greater pulmonary volumes and capacities. The average height of the American citizen is greater than that of Bolivians in Europe which is further greater than that of Bolivians of Aymaran ancestry. If only height is considered, the Total Lung Capacity and Vital Capacity should be the greatest for Americans followed by Europeans and Aymarans respectively. This is because with increase in height, there is also an increase in both the size of lungs and diaphragm which also leads to an increased body surface area. But there are numerous factors which come into play here, one of which is altitude. The Aymaran Highlanders have greater lung volumes than the Americans and Europeans which indicates that altitude plays a bigger role in determination of lung volumes than height. Altitude plays a significant role in the determination of pulmonary volumes. It leads to greater TLC and VC when compared with lowlanders of the same age and body size. The people of Aymara ancestry have a lower average height than those of European ancestry. They reside in the Andes and have a diverse geographical background. Some of them are native to the area while others of European( mainly Spanish) descent. The treatment of a person depends on his lung volumes and capacities. A person with decreased TLC and VC ( restrictive lung disease) will need medication which allows him/her to inhale required amount of air. This happens in conditions like pulmonary sclerosis, fibrosis, neuromuscular problems, to name a few. A person with increased RV will need treatment which directly or indirectly increase the compliance of his/her lungs. According the the given data, the person has an increased and ERVans RV. He might be suffering from an obstructive lung disease. The decreased RV indicates that the lungs cannot fully expire the air. This means that there is an obstruction which is preventing them from doing so. This happens in diseases like emphysema, COPD and asthma where the lungs are not compliant due to some underlying problem which leads to decreased outflow.
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