Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance (51 page)
Read Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance Online
Authors: Kenneth Kamler
lack of, and death,
194
as medicine,
197
percentage in air,
192
pure, breathing of,
176
running out of, on a mountain,
188–90
,
193–94
saturation of blood,
193–94
store of, in human body,
163
,
195–96
toxicity of,
176
transfer to tissues,
195
oxygen cylinders,
197
paca, a meal of,
73–75
pain
extreme, body’s blocking of,
27–28
relief of, with ice,
231
suppression of, by willpower,
52
,
285–87
panic,
86
paradoxical undressing,
288
paralyzed people,
288
parasites,
35–37
parietal lobes,
70
Pasang (Sherpa porter),
1–4
,
14–15
patients
bedridden,
100
noncompliant,
63–64
terminally ill, will to survive of,
279
pediatrics,
192
penis, candiru in,
79
Pepto-Bismol,
214
Persian Gulf,
167
personality change,
119
Peru,
7
phantom limb pain,
110
Phenergan,
250
Pheriche village,
209
Phoenicians,
168
pilots, fighting,
242
,
244
,
248–49
pineal gland,
256
piranha,
39–40
pirarucu,
77
planning, human capacity for,
148
plants
as food,
102–3
pneumonia,
192
poaching,
21
poisonous animals and plants,
40–48
,
66–67
,
77–78
polio,
48
polypropylene underwear,
184
position sensors,
92
positive-pressure breathing device,
245
positive thinking, and healing,
64
prayer,
71
predator and prey animals,
145
Prosperi, Mauro,
124–26
,
135–38
,
143
,
155
,
275
protein
of body, burning of,
112–13
deformed by cold,
202
deformed by deep-water pressure,
180–81
deformed by heat,
128
,
135
,
140–41
requirement for,
103–4
Psedorca
,
119
puberty rites,
70
Qatar,
167
Quechua Indians,
212–13
quicksand,
55
radial artery,
32
radial keratotomy,
232
radial nerve,
30
radiation (cosmic),
261–63
radiation (heat transfer),
127
Ra II
,
108–9
rain, collecting of, to drink,
105–7
Rai people,
210
Ralston, Aron,
278–79
rational thinking,
284–85
rectum,
106
red blood cells,
163
,
195
,
211–12
,
218–19
,
266
rehydration enema,
106
Reisman, Garrett,
241
religious experience,
72
remora,
101–2
reptiles,
281
Ricardo (climber),
215–19
rifle, vs. blowdart,
68–69
right ventricle,
212
Rios, Jesus,
152
rivers, following, in wilderness,
276–77
Robertson, Dougal and Lynn,
97–99
,
105
,
106
,
119
,
120
,
280
rockets, auto-recovery system on,
245
Rougerie, Jacques,
182
Rutten, Otto,
238
Sahara Desert,
125–26
salt, concentration in blood,
108
,
109
,
131
,
132
,
145
Samburu people,
150
sandstorms,
125–26
saturation diving,
177–79
,
180
,
182
Saudi Arabia,
167
sauna, temperature of,
128
Savinykh, Viktor,
249
sawgrass,
54
schistosomiasis,
37
scooping food from the sea,
101
scorpion,
77–78
scrotum,
150
SeaBreeze
,
119
seal,
162–64
sea lion,
157
SEALs (U.S. Navy),
277
SeaOrbiter
,
181–82
seawater, drinking of,
107–9
Sebastian (Amazon Indian guide),
25
sedation,
32
self-awareness,
70–71
self-sacrifice,
60
semicircular canals,
247
sensation, nerves responsible for,
27
senses, human vs. animal,
56
serotonin,
69
settlements
jungle,
62–63
sex hormones,
112
Seychelles,
111
shade,
143
shivering and shaking,
185–86
,
199
,
233
shrunken heads,
75–76
skiers,
191
ski mask,
185
skin
breakdown of, by contact,
100–101
and internal heat loss,
129–30
pigmentation of, as protection,
150–51
skin cancer,
151
skinny dipping, in the Amazon,
40–41
sleeping bags,
225
smoke inside huts,
192
“snail fever,”
37
snakebite, treating,
46–48
snakes
constrictor,
53–54
poisonous,
41–48
searching for warmth in clothes,
43–44
society, and human survival,
57–58
,
278
solar still,
94–95
solar wind,
260–63
soldiers, basic training for,
141
solitude, need for,
196
Sourbeer, Jay,
238
South America,
212
space,
236–73
communicating with Earth from,
264
environmental dangers of,
241–42
,
253
exercise in, need for,
267–68
training for going into,
237–41
spacecraft
design of cabin,
256–57
life aboard,
236–37
space suit,
253–55
space walks,
253–55
spear,
101
species, division of, and differing adaptations,
212
sperm cells,
149
sphere, heat loss from,
150
spider, water,
160
spiritual force, and survival,
14
splint,
32
standing position,
141–42
starches,
103
stingray,
40
stir-craziness,
101
Strekalov, Gennadi,
245–46
stress, body’s reaction to,
140–41
subdural hematoma,
3
submersibles, unmanned deep-sea,
177
suicide
religious prohibition against,
115
sunburn,
151
surgical instruments, kit for,
27
surgical operations
in extreme conditions,
26–34
survival
factors in,
6
,
14
,
154
,
275–76
,
279–80
mechanisms of, evolution and,
14
,
18
,
81–82
tests of,
277–79
survival instinct
in animals and humans,
282
and behavior modification,
51
,
143
in city vs. in jungle,
18
inadequacy of, in outer space,
241–42
as individual imperative,
64
in native peoples,
82
overriding of, in humans,
5
,
201–2
swallowing,
251
swamps,
55–56
Sweigert, Jack,
257
swim bladder,
179–80
swimming,
93
symbiosis,
73
synovial fluid,
252
taboo,
115–17
Talacek, James,
240
Taqurahu (mountain in Peru),
8
tarantula,
78
temperature, ambient
of desert,
126
,
128
,
130
,
134–35
,
144
human body reaction to,
128
temperature, body
rise in, from clothing,
150
rise in, from exercise,
128
See also
heat, internal
temporal lobes,
71–72
terminally ill patients,
279
testicles,
149–50
thalamus,
281
thermoreceptors,
129
thermostatic control,
128–30
thighs,
150
electrical basis of,
280
,
289
,
290–91
power of, to control body responses,
287–91
thirst
death by,
145
Tierra del Fuego,
202
tigers, humans’ innate response to,
13
Titanic
,
91
Titov, Vladimir,
245–46
toad,
149
Todd, Bill,
238
trachea,
87
tropics,
200
tryptamine,
72
Tsibliyev, Vasily,
251
tunga,
49–50
Tunisia,
126