Altitude Illness Registry Established

by Kenneth Baillie A group of scientists in the UK are putting together a registry of people who have previously suffered from serious high-altitude illnesses.Diseases like high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE) and high altitude cerebral oedema (HACE) tragically cut short many young lives each year. Although there have been significant advances in the past decade, we still do not fully understand the underlying causes of these illnesses. We hope that future studies may help us to find out what makes some people susceptible to HAPE and HACE. By better understanding what causes these diseases, we hope that we will be able to find new treatments. Previous HAPE or HACE sufferers who join the registry will be invited to join research studies that may involve questionnaires, mouth swabs or simple blood tests. Because these illnesses are thankfully rare, there are not many people in the UK who are eligible to join, so we really need to hear from as many sufferers as possible. More information at www.hape.org.uk. ( Source: International HAPE database )

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