Prof. Dr. Gustavo Zubieta-Castillo.

Gustavo Zubieta-Castillo the Director of the High Altitude Pathology Institute affirmed in a newspaper interview that the Argentinian Soccer team took its worst defeat in world Cup qualifying play, 6 – 1  to the Bolivian Soccer team in La Paz. due to “fear of high altitude”. He affirmed “The fear factor played a crucial role. Fear uses up more energy than physical exercise.”


Periodico LA PATRIA, ORURO, BOLIVIA Domingo 5 de Abril de 2009
Primera Plana.

Director del Instituto de Patología de la Altura, Gustavo Zubieta Castillo
SELECCION ARGENTINA PERDIO PORQUE TUVO MIEDO A LA ALTURA

•    Indicó que cuando se tiene miedo se gasta cualquier cantidad de energía, más que el esfuerzo físico

Los jugadores bolivianos siempre fueron más, en recuadro, Gustavo Zubieta Castillo 

La selección de fútbol de la Argentina perdió el partido contra Bolivia, porque tuvo miedo a la altura, ya que si bien la altura afecta, pero sólo entre un 10 a 15 por ciento en el rendimiento de un deportista, sin embargo, el porcentaje restante, se debe al factor psicológico y la preparación táctica y técnica que puedan tener los jugadores.

Esa fue la afirmación que realizó ayer, el experto en problemas de la altura y director del Instituto de Patología de la Altura, Gustavo Zubieta Castillo,
quien estuvo presente en nuestra capital para hablar de ese tema tan polemizado, principalmente por los periodistas argentinos que convirtieron a la altura en un mal.

En una entrevista con LA PATRIA, el profesional afirmó: “Mucho se habla de la altura sin tener conocimientos que sean de carácter científico. A nivel mundial el tema de la altura tiene varios años y poco a poco, se fueron descubriendo las reacciones de manera normal del organismo a la altura y después me he dedicado al efecto de las enfermedades”, dijo.

No negó que la altura puede llegar a afectar e incluso esta puede ser mortal, pero en extremas condiciones, pese a que incluso un feto puede sobrevivir en el vientre de su madre a la altura del monte Everest, que está a 8.844 metros sobre el nivel del mar.

Indicó que hay personas que vienen (a nuestro país) después de un tiempo y se adaptan a la altura y hay gente que viene y si no se la atiende puede morirse por la altura, por edema cerebral, edema pulmonar, cosa que no debe ocurrir ahora porque esas enfermedades ya se las conoce y son curables.

“Ahora que la altura a los argentinos les ha afectado, sí les ha afectado, pero ese factor dentro del deporte que han realizado equivaldrá al 10% ó 15%, pero hay otro factor que no lo toman en cuenta, que es el temor a la altura, porque si usted tiene miedo, se le paran los pelos, se puede enfermar y hasta puede morirse de susto”, afirmó.

“Y lo contrario sufrió con los argentinos, que indudablemente sintieron el efecto de la altura, pero cuando ya tenían tres en contra, se desmoronó la cosa. Ahora el factor de la altura tuvo importancia en un 10 a 15 por ciento, pero a un equipo de esa naturaleza lo que le afectó fue el temor a la altura, porque cuando se tiene miedo, es cuando existe un desgaste de energía tremendo, entonces, ha sido el temor a la altura y el temor a perder el partido, y su comportamiento ha sido un desastre”, puntualizó.

From: http://lapatriaenlinea.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2967&Itemid=92

Photo from Wikipedia

1) The original paper as published in the Fiziol. Journal 2003, 49:3, pg. 110-117

2) A Chapter of the book: Adaptation Biology and Medicine (Volume 5:Health Potentials).

3) An attempt by three bold and extraordinary Nepalese brothers to remain atop Everest for 24 hours:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7892588.stm

It is a first step in the proof of these bold theories, in spite of incomplete or rather “insufficient” time for full adaptation.

Among them:

floating tennis courts,
marathon in space,
tennis heliport in Dubai,
mountain biking,
golf on snow,
tennis on top of water,
Ski in the dessert,
Cricket in the Himalayas,
tennis in a boat
and the football (soccer) game played on the summit of Mt. Sajama at 6542 m. that the High the Altitude Pathology Institute organized in August 2001.

Click here to view the photos.

Click here to read about the Sajama football game.

Nemesio Camacho el Campín Stadium, Bogotá, Colombia

By Oscar Munevar Forero
Acord Colombia

The decision taken by FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter, to suspend the matches played at an altitude higher than 2,500 meters above sea level, violates the Association’s rights, in particular the South American associations. The Olympic stadium Hernando Siles Suazo of La Paz (capital of Bolivia), the Olympic stadium Atahualpa of Quito (capital of Ecuador) and the stadium Nemesio Camacho el Campín of Bogotá (capital of Colombia) that are at altitudes of 3576, 2850 and 2600 meters above sea level, respectively, are the most affected by the decision taken by the “tsar” of the football world.

We looked for opinions from some experts such as Dr. Gustavo Zubieta Castillo, who is the author of an article on this subject entitled “Pulmones y altura: funcion respiratoria y adaptación” (The lungs and high altitude: respiratory function and adaptation.

It is stated in the introduction that “No animal species ascends beyond its endurance capacity and above its genetic security conferred by the nature. For humans, however, altitude has always represented a challenge. His eagerness to conquer all the surroundings, to prove and increase his endurance, overcome any barrier or obstacle. One of the bigger constraints is undoubtedly acute exposure to hypoxia. The organism has to overcome this reduction in environmental oxygen pressure by involving many mechanisms in order to reach its target: the supply of enough oxygen to the tissues”.

As we know, high altitude training makes athletes perform better. As Zubieta Castillo said: “when a perfect adaptation is needed, the human body reacts accordingly”.

The Bolivian scientist adds: “The mechanisms of adaptation, in relation to time, have two stages: acute adaptation and chronic adaptation. Acute adaptation is manifested by a big energy expenditure directly related to the level of high altitude. The decrease of the atmospheric air pressure is compensated for by the pneumodynamic pump, that gives rise to a fast air renewal: increase of the respiratory frequency (RF) and the tidal volume (VT). The hemodynamic pump increases proportionally the blood flow to the lungs: increase of the cardiac frequency (CF) and the systolic volume (VS). Both mechanisms are readily observed but require a complex neurohumoral control. The changes occur in different systems, binding oxygen to hemoglobin and eliminating the carbonic anhydride, at a normal pH 7.40.”

Therefore, all seems to indicate that FIFA took the decision without thinking it through. Few people are affected by the decision, but it benefits many more.
However, no survey has been carried out proving that playing at high altitude affects the human body. What is evident is once again the fear of the big countries of South America (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay) to face smaller countries.

A serious study should be carried out in order to reach a balance, otherwise the stadiums of Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and the countries themselves are almost obliged to disappear. The football fans of those countries are censored, violating the right of equality.
For the full Spanish text please click here.

from:
http://www.aipsmedia.com/index.php/index.php?page=news&cod=1185&tp=n

open to anyone interested in pursuing research related to high altitude diving in the Lake Titicaca (1 hour from La Paz) and also up to Lake Licancabur “the highest diving lagoon in the world”. We welcome theoretical studies and discussions with Prof. Paulev, for the constant improvement of diving science.
Visit the website….

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), Football’s governing body, has once more banned international matches from being played at more than 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level. It then changed to 3000 m. They said the decision was made because of concerns over players’ health and possible distortion of competition.

Just want to pass along a letter mailed this week to Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, by my colleague Gustavo Zubieta of the Institute of High Altitude Pathology in La Paz, in reference to the recent FIFA effort to ban high altitude soccer games.

Dr. Zubieta, one of the world’s leading authorities on high altitude physiology, is presently at the University of Copenhagen. The letter is also signed by Prof. Jens Bangsbo, an international authority on soccer physiology and Prof. Poul-Erik Paulev exercise physiologist from the University of Copenhagen.

The letter specifically notes that “based on extensive knowledge over many years of work in research on exercise, pressure changes, environmental changes and different conditions that the human body can tolerate during the practice of sports”, that “the world games of soccer can and should be played in the high altitude cities of La Paz.”

You can download a copy by clicking on the image above or accesing this link:

http://www.altitudeclinic.com/images/Bolivian%20President.pdf

En Español:
http://www.altitudeclinic.com/images/Traduccion_futbol_altura.pdf

Michael Moretti
High Altitude Medical Anthropologist
La Paz, Bolivia

June 24, 2007