In addition to the malnutrition associated with a very poor diet, living at such high altitude causes severe health problems. The ultraviolet rays cause cataracts and blindness ,while the iron in the high concentrations of hemoglobin carrying increased oxygen around the body attacks the joints causing arthritis, severe pain and immobility. If they live to any significant age, the old people usually spend their time lying in their beds in tents or mud houses, stiff, immobile and racked with pain--as if their lives were not miserable enough.

There is a high incidence of of infant mortality and the children are usually very small for their ages. Most of these children have rickets by the age of 1 year which causes bone malformations and depigmentation of their hair. Although China does try to vaccinate the population against childhood diseases, there is rarely enough vaccine to go around or it is well out of date. And these nomadic people living in such remote areas are the bottom of the list. TB is everywhere, and there are many forms of it. Few people escape contracting this disease. If a disease takes hold, most of the children or members of the family will succumb to it. Last year 3 children in one family died of measles. Their problems just with living are so great, that it is simply devastating to have such a loss.