BLOOD oxygen in doctors climbing Everest plunged to the lowest levels ever recorded in a healthy human. This might mean some people in intensive care can tolerate lower oxygen levels than previously thought.
The four doctors, who had spent weeks acclimatising to the thin air, above sea level, 448 metres below the Everest summit. The average blood oxygen level was 3.28 kilopascals, with the lowest at 2.55 kPa (, vol 360, p 140).
The normal value is 12 to 14 kPa, while values below 8…
