Pattern of haemoglobin in people of high and low altitude of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The main objective of this study was to find out changes in level of haemoglobin concentration associated with high and low altitude areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). A randomized blood samples were collected from 215 healthy male and female belonging to 20-50 years of age from June 2018 to November 2018. The subjects of the current study were selected from four different district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Abbottabad, Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar and Swat). Haemoglobin levels of the subjects were analyzed on Nihon Kohden Hematology analyzer (Celltac X MEK-6410K). There was an increase in haemoglobin level, at high altitude namely Abbottabad and Swat as compare to a selected low altitude region i.e. Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar. We found statistically significant difference in Mean haemoglobin level at high-altitude region (14.25±1.40) and low-altitude region (13.58±1.28). Haemoglobin concentration increases in the blood with elevated altitudes and, thus, at high-altitude areas anemia was less frequent. The mechanism that produces the mean differences showed that altitude may play a vital role in haemoglobin production. This study provides the basis for future research in this area that explores the process of haemoglobin production at both cellular and molecular level. This will focus not only on haemoglobin or red blood cells but also on the tissues they supply.