1. Travellers to high altitude often complain of paroxysmal cough, which has not been previously investigated. We recorded overnight cough frequency and cough-receptor sensitivity to inhaled citric acid in a group of climbers travelling to 5300 m or higher. 2. Cough frequency, monitored in ten subjects, increased from a median of 0 coughs at sea level (range 0-1) to 5 coughs at 5000 m (range 0-...

While high altitude mountain climbers know that the human brain can eventually adjust to low oxygen levels, sadly the same is not true in the clinical setting. Within minutes of a stroke or heart failure, delicate neural tissue is already beginning to shut down as the processes that initially protected the brain begin to fail and irreversible damage ensues. But not all creatures suffer such dra...

Titanium is considered to be the metal of the 21st century [1]. Metal, which would have small volume density (at least 2-3 times smaller than iron), plasticity, workability, high rigidity, resistance and life span, has long been desired. It has also been required no to lose those characteristics when exposed to air, river and sea water, not to be soluble in acid or potash. At the same time it h...

Performance rock climbing places high demands on the hand and may lead to specific injuries. In a "one-finger-pocket" hold, the interphalangeal joints remain in 20-40 degrees flexion. To increase the maximum force of the holding finger by the quadriga effect, the interphalangeal joints of the adjacent fingers become almost maximally flexed. Holding a "one-finger-pocket" with the ring or small f...

A relation exists between high altitude exposure and a hypercoagulable state, the nature of which is not entirely clear. This has been mostly reported in mountain climbers. We report a 19-yr-old female, working as a high-altitude chamber instructor, who presented with severe frontal headaches which persisted for a month following routine high altitude chamber training. The patient was in genera...

The author, an experienced alpine mountaineer, sustained several traumatic climbing injuries over a two-year period. This article describes her multiple uses of self-hypnosis to deal with several challenges related to her returning to successful mountain climbing. She used self-hypnosis for physical healing and to enhance her motivation to resume climbing. While training for her next expedition...

BACKGROUND When cooking on a barbecue grill, consumers often use aluminum grill pans. For one, the pan catches the fats and oils that would drip into the embers causing the formation of potentially noxious smoke, and the pan also protects the food from being burned by direct heat from the coals. In addition, new aluminum products for use in ovens and grills are becoming increasingly popular. Du...

BACKGROUND The sport of rock climbing has its own spectrum of injuries, almost half of which involve the wrist and hand. OBJECTIVE To examine the incidence of acute wrist and hand injuries in 545 members of The Climbers' Club of Great Britain. METHOD A total of 1100 questionnaires were sent to current members of The Climbers' Club of Great Britain for them to detail any hand and wrist injur...

The performance advantage of active rather than passive recovery during subsequent trials for repeated high intensity short-term exercise is well documented. Research findings suggest that shorter periods of active recovery, than traditionally employed, can be prescribed and still retain performance benefits over passive recoveries in successive exercise trials. The aim of this study was to exa...