Xtreme Everest researchers launch new Ejournal

Professor Mike Grocott and Professor Hugh Montgomery launched a new Ejournal this week. The journal, entitled 'Extreme Physiology and Medicine' focuses on integrative human physiology under stress, and is part of the group of journals published by Biomed Central, an open access publisher.

Editors-in-Chief Mike and Hugh write: "The study of integrated human physiology underpins our understanding of human pathophysiology. The characterisation of responses to external stressors - whether relating to changes in hydration, humidity or hypoxia, exertion or altitude, barometric pressure or gravity - has been especially informative. Importantly, understanding of disease states such as critical illness (in which similar challenges to oxygen delivery, thermoregulation and hydration exist) can be informed through such study. However, recent decades have seen a waning of investment in integrative physiology in general and environmental physiology in particular [. Just as they have in the world of global politics and finance, revolutions in the fields of technology and computation, genomics and molecular biology, have dominated the biomedical sphere. Whilst this has been captivating and exciting, we are now learning that not all human physiology or pathophysiology can be 'e-explored' or understood through reductionist molecular biology alone. Whilst such studies can be hugely enhanced through the use of new technologies, there remains much to learn from the integrative physiological study of 'whole humans' .

Extreme Physiology & Medicine hopes to address these deficits by providing a rapid, receptive and reliable route for the publication of relevant high-quality articles. Articles will be peer reviewed by recognised world leaders in their fields, ensuring the highest standard of quality control. The 'open access' model of publishing brings with it distinct advantages in terms of speed of publication and global visibility (to all who are connected to the internet).

The first articles published in Extreme Physiology & Medicine showcase our mission to look across the range of integrative physiology under stress from around the globe. They include original articles describing environmental conditions high on Mount Everest and the impact of this environmental stress on mountaineers, an investigation of skeletal muscle volume following dehydration induced by exercise in heat and a fascinating case report describing a recreation of Priestley's classic bell jar experiment with a human subject.

You can access the journal by clicking on this link, Click here