High Altitude Flatus Expulsion

When medical doctors go hiking, they fart. And when they fart, they write papers about it. The science of medicine has identified and studied the effects of high altitude and low pressure on the gases in the gastrointestinal track.


High Altitude Flatus Expulsion [PDF Paper]

High Altitude Flatus Expulsion (HAFE)

TO THE EDITOR: We would like to report our observations upon a new gastrointestinal syndrome, which we shall refer to by the acronym HAFE (high altitude flatus expulsion). This phenomenon was most recently witnessed by us during an expedition
in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, with similar experiences during excursions past. The syndrome is strictly associated with ascent, and is characterized by an increase in both the volume and the frequency of the passage of flatus, which spontaneously occurs while climbing to altitudes of 11,000 feet or greater. The eructations (known to veteran back-packers as "Rocky Mountain barking spiders") do not appear to vary with exercise, but may well be closely linked to diet.' [...]
While not as catastrophic as barotrauma nor as debilitating as HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema), HAFE nonetheless represents a significant inconvenience to those who prefer to hike in company. [...]
At present, we can advise victims that the offense is more sociologic than hysiologic. [...]
HAFE should be added to the growing list of medical disorders that are associated with exposure to high altitude. We are planning a prospective study for the summer of 1981.