If you are interested in this article, you may be interested in these others relating to altitude:
A team from the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), led by the UK’s Dr Dave Hllebrandt, has just published an evidence-based guide to drug use in the mountain environment. The report was ten years in the making and includes the medicinal, the performance enhancing, the recreational and the simply baffling (mescaline at 8000m anyone?). It’s comprehensive, a very handy reference for anyone working in the mountains and available free on the High Altitude Medicine and Biology site.
