This is an international consensus statement of an ad hoc committee formed by the International Society for Mountain Medicine (ISMM) at the VI World Congress on Mountain Medicine and High Altitude Physiology (Xining, China; 2004) and represents the committee's interpretation of the current knowledge with regard to the most common chronic and subacute high altitude diseases. It has been develope...

Exposure to altitude results in multiple physiological consequences. These include, but are not limited to, a reduced maximal oxygen consumption, drop in arterial oxygen saturation, and increase in muscle metabolic perturbations at a fixed sub-maximal work rate. Exercise capacity during fixed work rate or incremental exercise and time-trial performance are also impaired at altitude relative to ...

1. To assess the effects of acute exposure to high altitude on baroreceptor function in man we evaluated the effects of baroreceptor activation on R-R interval and blood pressure control at high altitude. We measured the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components in R-R, non-invasive blood pressure and skin blood flow, and the effect of baroreceptor modulation by 0. 1-Hz sinusoidal n...

We previously reported in weanling guinea pigs raised at high altitude (HA; 3,800 m) an elevated lung diffusing capacity estimated by morphometry from alveolar-capillary surface area, harmonic mean blood-gas barrier thickness, and pulmonary capillary blood volume (Vc) compared with litter-matched control animals raised at an intermediate altitude (IA; 1,200 m) (Hsia CCW, Polo Carbayo JJ, Yan X,...

Deforestation and exploitation has led to the fragmentation of habitats and scattering of populations of the economically important eri silkworm, Samia cynthia ricini, in north-east India. Genetic analysis of 15 eri populations, using ISSR markers, showed 98% inter-population, and 23% to 58% intra-population polymorphism. Nei's genetic distance between populations increased significantly with a...

Social structure evolves from a trade-off between the costs and benefits of group-living, which are in turn dependent upon the distribution of key resources such as food and shelter. Males and females, or juveniles and adults, may have different priorities when selecting habitat due to differences in physiological or behavioural imperatives, leading to complex patterns in group composition. We ...

Increasing number of Hindu pilgrims visit the Himalayas where some of them suffer from high altitude illness including the life threatening forms, high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE) and high altitude cerebral oedema. Compared to tourists and trekkers, pilgrims are usually ignorant about altitude illness. This is a case of a pilgrim who suffered from HAPE on his trip to Kailash-Mansarovar and...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary hypertension is a hallmark of high-altitude pulmonary edema and may contribute to its pathogenesis. Cardiovascular adjustments to hypoxia are mediated, at least in part, by the sympathetic nervous system, and sympathetic activation promotes pulmonary vasoconstriction and alveolar fluid flooding in experimental animals. METHODS AND RESULTS We measured sympathetic nerve act...

INTRODUCTION Over-inflation of endotracheal tube (ETT) cuffs has the potential to lead to scarring and stenosis of the trachea.1, 2,3, 4 The air inside an ETT cuff is subject to expansion as atmospheric pressure decreases, as happens with an increase in altitude. Emergency medical services helicopters are not pressurized, thereby providing a good environment for studying the effects of altitude...

To help resolve the mechanistic bases for haematological adaptations (,28% increase in red blood cell volume) of equids to high altitude (3800 m, barometric pressure Pb, 487 mm Hg) and exercise, plasma erythropoietin concentration ([EPO]) was measured at rest and following exercise in six, moderately fit equids (four Arabians, one Quarter Horse and one Shetland Pony; four females and two males;...