http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Both sickle cell disease and the condition known as sickle cell trait are genetic blood diseases: You're born with one or the other because of the genes inherited from your parents. Beyond that, the two conditions vary considerably. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-sickle-cell-disease-trait.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:29:42 EST news275927376 New magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research shows that mountain climbers who experience a certain type of high altitude sickness have traces of bleeding in the brain years after the initial incident, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-high-altitude-climbers-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:51:02 EST news273300644 (Medical Xpress)—George Wehby from the University of Iowa has been conducting a study to discover adverse mental development effects on toddlers and babies due to living at high altitudes. He's found, as he describes in his paper published in the Journal of Pediatrics that children living above 8,530 feet were twice as likely to be at risk of experiencing delays in their mental development as those living at or below 2,625 feet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-children-high-altitude-higher-mental.html Pediatrics Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:56:42 EST news271402946 On the centenary of Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole, a study to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Sunday July 1 has shown that Scott's men starved to death because they were consuming far too few calories to fuel their daily exertion. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-trek-starvation-scott-polar-tragedy.html Other Thu, 28 Jun 2012 21:00:01 EST news260124955 In late 1911, British Naval Captain Robert F. Scott led a team of five Englishmen on their quest to be the first to reach the South Pole. Upon arrival they learned they had been preceded by a Norwegian team, led by Roald Amundsen (which had arrived more than a month before). Scott and his companions died during their journey home as a result of natural causes induced by the extreme physiological stresses they experienced. A century later, our understanding of the effects stresses have on the body, and how it reacts to severe exercise, malnutrition, hypothermia, high altitude, and sleep deprivation has greatly increased. A century after Scott's expedition to the bottom of the Earth, a paper published in the current edition of Physiological Reviews recaps present-day knowledge and contrasts it with the relative ignorance about these issues around the turn of the 20th century. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-century-physiological-demands-antarctica.html Health Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:29:21 EST news258715747 Altitude training is a popular technique among athletes preparing for a competition, especially expert runners. Much research has been conducted on how to do it, at what altitude to train, how to modify workouts and how long to stay at altitude. However, a major unanswered question is when should an athlete return from altitude to compete? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-altitude-conventional-wisdom.html Other Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:31:29 EST news257797882 (AP) -- A team of American scientists and researchers flew to the Mount Everest region on Friday to set up a laboratory at the base of the world's highest mountain to study the effects of high altitude on humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-mount-everest.html Medical research Fri, 20 Apr 2012 05:14:51 EST news254117681 Over many generations, people living in the high-altitude regions of the Andes or on the Tibetan Plateau have adapted to life in low-oxygen conditions. Living with such a distinct and powerful selective pressure has made these populations a textbook example of evolution in action, but exactly how their genes convey a survival advantage remains an open question. Now, a University of Pennsylvania team has made new inroads to answering this question with the first genome-wide study of high-altitude adaptations within the third major population to possess them: the Amhara people of the Ethiopian Highlands. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-ethiopians-high-altitude.html Genetics Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:32:59 EST news246292370 Measuring specific, exercise-related responses can help physicians determine who may be more at risk for severe high altitude illness (SHAI), according to a study conducted by researchers in France. The researchers also found that taking acetazolamide (ACZ), a drug frequently prescribed to prevent altitude illness, can reduce some of the risk factors associated with SHAI. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-potential-factors-severe-altitude-sickness.html Health Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:15:45 EST news239084103