Abstract
Hematological adaptations to high altitude (HA) are long studied but are focused either on lowlanders visiting HA or native highlanders from Andes and Tibet. The literature on native highlanders from the Indian subcontinent or paediatric highlanders is scarce. We aimed at assessing hematological parameters in native highlanders of Ladakh, India, aged 4–19 years and derive nomograms in an age stratified manner specific to these native highlanders. A total of 335 self-reported healthy native highlanders of Ladakh, without any known comorbidities and not on hematinic nor any drugs in the age group of 4–19 years were included in the study. Complete hemogram including red cell indices was measured. R ver 3.4.0 was used to compare the hematological parameters based on gender/age stratification, pubertal and nutritional status. The hematological reference ranges were created for various parameters in the paediatric population. The mean (SD) haemoglobin (Hb) concentration was 14.74 (2.07) gm/dL. The mean hematocrit (Hct) was 40.43 (5.57%) %, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was 81.87 (7.22) fL, white blood cell (WBC) count was 7596 (2172) cells/μL and platelets was 378.4 (152.8) × 103/μL. Hct and MCV increased with age. Hb concentration, Hct, and MCV in girls was significantly lower than boys. Severely underweight subjects (body mass index < 16) showed significantly higher platelet counts compared to their nourished counterparts. The hematological nomograms for the native paediatric highlanders from Ladakh, India have been reported in this study.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bert P (2003) La pression barométrique recherches de physiologie expérimentale. BIUM, Paris
West JB, Milledge JS, Schoene RB, Luks A (2013) High altitude medicine and physiology. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton. http://www.crcnetbase.com/isbn/9781444154337. Accessed 28 Apr 2018
Jungmann H (1974) Acclimatization and adaptation to high altitude. Prog Biometeorol Div A Prog Hum Biometeorol 1:474–481
Beall CM, Goldstein MC (1987) Hemoglobin concentration of pastoral nomads permanently resident at 4850–5450 meters in Tibet. Am J Phys Anthropol 73(4):433–438
Beall CM (2000) Tibetan and Andean patterns of adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia. Hum Biol 72(1):201–228
Schmidt W (2002) Effects of intermittent exposure to high altitude on blood volume and erythropoietic activity. High Alt Med Biol 3(2):167–176
Portaluppi F, Touitou Y, Smolensky MH (2008) Ethical and methodological standards for laboratory and medical biological rhythm research. Chronobiol Int 25(6):999–1016
Team RC (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing [Internet]. Vienna, Austria, 2014
Winslow RM, Chapman KW, Gibson CC, Samaja M, Monge CC, Goldwasser E et al (1989) Different hematologic responses to hypoxia in Sherpas and Quechua Indians (Bethesda, Md: 1985). J Appl Physiol 66(4):1561–1569
Shrivastava A, Goyal A, Negi K (2010) Effect of high altitude on haematological parameters. Indian J Prev Soc Med 41(1):2
Complete-blood-count-normal-pediatric-values [Internet]. 1995–2018. http://a1.mayomedicallaboratories.com/webjc/attachments/110/30a2131-complete-blood-count-normal-pediatric-values.pdf. Accessed 28 Apr 2018
Siques P, Brito J, Leon-Velarde F, Barrios L, De La Cruz JJ, Lopez V et al (2007) Hematological and lipid profile changes in sea-level natives after exposure to 3550-m altitude for 8 months. High Alt Med Biol 8(4):286–295
Stevens SF (1993) Claiming the high ground: sherpas, subsistence, and environmental change in the highest Himalaya. University of California Press, Berkeley
Ghai OP (1982) Essential pediatrics. Interprint, New Delhi
Anand AC, Saha A, Seth AK, Chopra GS, Nair V, Sharma V (2005) Symptomatic portal system thrombosis in soldiers due to extended stay at extreme altitude. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 20(5):777–783
Hudson JG, Bowen AL, Navia P, Rios-Dalenz J, Pollard AJ, Williams D et al (1999) The effect of high altitude on platelet counts, thrombopoietin and erythropoietin levels in young Bolivian airmen visiting the Andes. Int J Biometeorol 43(2):85–90
Kotwal J, Apte CV, Kotwal A, Mukherjee B, Jayaram J (2007) High altitude: a hypercoagulable state: results of a prospective cohort study. Thromb Res 120(3):391–397
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
UY: Study design, data collection and analysis, manuscript preparation. SK: Data analysis, manuscript preparation. SAB: Study design. SKD: Data analysis, manuscript preparation. SY: Data collection and analysis. VKLK: Data collection. AA: Data collection. PM: Study design. SV: Study design, manuscript preparation. NV: Study design. VN: Study design, manuscript preparation.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Standards
This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving human subjects/patients were approved by the 14 Corps Institutional Ethics Clearance Committee. Written informed consent was obtained from parents/guardians of all subjects.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yanamandra, U., Bhattachar, S.A., Das, S.K. et al. Hematological Parameters in Native Highlanders of Ladakh Aged 4–19 Years. Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus 34, 731–738 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12288-018-0967-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12288-018-0967-4