This pre-eminent work has developed over six editions in response to man's attempts to climb higher and higher unaided, and to spend more time at altitude for both work and recreation. Building on this established reputation, the new and highly experienced authors provide a fully revised and updated text that will help doctors continue to improve the health and safety of all people who visit, live or work in the cold, thin air of high mountains. The sixth edition remains invaluable for any doctor accompanying an expedition or advising patients on a visit to altitude, those specialising in illness and accidents in high places, and for physicians and physiologists who study our dependence on oxygen and the adaptation of the body to altitude.

This pre-eminent work has developed over six editions in response to man's attempts to climb higher and higher unaided, and to spend more time at altitude for both work and recreation. Building on this established reputation, the new and highly experienced authors provide a fully revised and updated text that will help doctors continue to improve the health and safety of all people who visit, live or work in the cold, thin air of high mountains. The sixth edition remains invaluable for any doctor accompanying an expedition or advising patients on a visit to altitude, those specialising in illness and accidents in high places, and for physicians and physiologists who study our dependence on oxygen and the adaptation of the body to altitude.

Easy to use, and useful when kept close at hand in the room where you work. The book is a pleasure to read: the style elegant and authoritative.' Lancet '...this book is a wonderful reference to enable primary physicians to be informed about their patients.' Annals of Internal Medicine Universally used across the world by genetic counsellors, medical geneticists and clinicians alike, Harper's Practical Genetic Counselling has established itself as the essential guide to counselling those at risk from inherited disorders. Increasingly, common disorders are known to have a genetic component and this book provides invaluable and up to date guidance through the profusion of new information in this area and the associated psychosocial and ethical considerations and concerns. Within its established, tried and trusted framework, the book contains new chapters on: laboratory methods, new genetic sequencing techniques and the applications of genome-wide SNP association studies, genetic susceptibility, cross cultural aspects and the genetic counselling process. It has expand chapters on genetic screening and screening of newborn, treatment techniques and rational approaches to treatment, non-Mendelian inheritance, free fetal DNA in prenatal screening and diagnosis. Key features: - Fully updated to provide the very latest information when in a busy consulting room or clinic - Clear and authoritative advice applicable to everyday clinical practice - Reflects the rapid development of knowledge in this area, including the implications of the human genome project and related technology The eighth edition of this popular, best selling text continues to be an essential source of reference for trainee and practitioner genetic counsellors, medical geneticists and clinicians. Also it provides valuable background for specialist nurses, counsellors, social scientists, ethicists as well as genetics laboratory staff.

HE history of high-altitude physiology and medicine is such a rich and T colorful topic that it is perhaps surprising that no one has undertaken a comprehensive account before. There are so many interesting ramifications, from the early balloonists to the various high-altitude expeditions, culminating in the great saga of climbing Mt. Everest without supplementary oxygen. Underpinning this variety is the basic biological challenge of hypoxia and the ways organisms adapt to it, a subject that is of key importance in medicine and many other life sciences, encountered as it is by organisms throughout the animal kingdom. I hope that this book will be of interest to a wide range of people, from biologists and physiologists to pulmonologists and others who manage patients with hypoxemia. The topic should also appeal to those who love the mountains including trekkers, skiers, climbers, and mountaineers. The book begins with a short introductory chapter to set the scene for the non-scientist. It then follows a general chronological sequence beginning with the Greeks and ending with contemporary events. In some places, however some compromises have been made to group together areas of related interest. For example, in Chapter 4 the controversy about oxygen secretion is traced from the 1870s to the 1930s and includes the Anglo-American Pikes Peak Ex pedition of 1911 and the International High-Altitude Expedition to Cerro de Pasco, Peru during 1921-1922. It makes sense to consider these events together.

High altitude physiology and medicine has again become important. The excep tional achievements of mountaineers who have climbed nearly all peaks over 8,000 m without breathing equipment raise the question of maximal adaptation ca pacity of man to low oxygen pressures. More importantly, the increase in tourism in the Andes and the Himalayas brings over 10,000 people to sites at altitudes above 4,000 and 5,000 m each year. At such heights several kinds of high alti tude diseases are likely to occur, and these complications require detailed medical investigations. Medical authorities need to inform both mountaineers and tourists as to how great a physical burden can be taken in the mountain environment without risk to health. Physicians need to know what kind of prophylaxis is to be employed at high altitudes to prevent the development of diseases and what therapeutic measures should be used once high altitude diseases have occurred. Moreover, the physical condition of the indigenous population living at higher altitudes such as the Andes and the Himalayas, who are exposed continuously to the stress of high altitude, requires our attention. We have become familiar with symptoms characteristic of chronic high-altitude disease: under special conditions this popu lation has a tendency to develop pulmonary hypertension, which is associated with pulmonary edema, pulmonary congestion, and right heart failure.

More than half a century has passed since man first stood on the summit of Mount Everest, and the story of man's attempts to climb higher and higher unaided is one of the more colourful and exciting in medicine and physiology. The past few decades have seen an explosion in the interest in mountain pursuits in general, as increasing numbers of people take to the mountains for day trips and longer excursions. As a result, doctors face ever expanding challenges in dealing with the changes in human physiology and particular medical conditions that arise from exposure to altitude and cold. Building on the success and reputation of previous editions the fourth edition includes major changes in the scientific content, with updates in many areas. The area of genetics has assumed great importance, along with other advances in molecular biology and medicine, and these are incorporated throughout the text. There are also new or improved sections on women and children at high altitude, the role of vascular endothelial growth factor, neurological disorders at high altitude, athletic training using high altitude, high altitude pulmonary edema, and the problems of patients with pre-existing disease. Other new features include summary boxes highlighting important concepts, and increased tabulation of key data for rapid reference. Despite the addition of new material, the authors have avoided the text become unwieldy and less readable with prudent pruning of existing material. High Altitude Medicine and Physiology remains invaluable reading for any doctor accompanying an expedition to altitude or advising patients on a visit to altitude, and for those physicians and physiologists who study our dependence on oxygen. The aim of the highly-respected authors, joined following the retirement of Michael Ward by Robert Schoene - to provide a text that will help physicians continue to improve the health and safety of all people who visit, live or work in the cold, thin air of high mountains - is undoubtedly met by this new edition.

This book reviews the research pertaining to nutrient requirements for working in cold or in high-altitude environments and states recommendations regarding the application of this information to military operational rations. It addresses whether, aside from increased energy demands, cold or high-altitude environments elicit an increased demand or requirement for specific nutrients, and whether performance in cold or high-altitude environments can be enhanced by the provision of increased amounts of specific nutrients.

This highly practical guide is ideal for any medical professional who deals with the aerospace environment or is involved in the healthcare of aircrew or individuals preparing for or returning from aerospace travel. The book covers all the main aspects of aerospace medicine, including the salient physiology and clinical aspects in note form for rapid assimilation, and makes plentiful use of figures, algorithms and tables throughout. Key Features: • Comprehensive covering all aspects of clinical aerospace medicine and relevant physiology • Note-based for rapid reference in the clinical setting • Highly practical with illustrations and tables supporting the text throughout • From a highly experienced international team of editors and contributors • Ideal as a handbook companion, complementing the definitive reference Ernsting’s Aviation and Space Medicine, for use ‘on the go’ The book will be an indispensable companion to all civil and military aviation medicine practitioners including those preparing for professional qualifying examinations, and a useful aid for other physicians with an interest in aviation medicine or who are required to inform patients regularly regarding the likely effects of flight, including family practitioners and hospital doctors, physiologists with an interest in the area and occupational and public health personnel.