Andrew Luks is aProfessor at the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, The University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Phillip Ainslie is a Professor at the School of Health & Exercise Sciences and Co-Director, Centre for Heart, Lung & Vascular Health, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada

Justin Lawley is a Professor at the Institute for Sports Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

Robert Roach is an Associate Professor, Altitude Research Center, Division of Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado, Denver, USA

Tatum Simonson is an Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine and Co-Director, Center for Physiological Genomics of Low Oxygen, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA

Foreword. Acknowledgments. History of high altitude medicine and physiology. THE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS PEOPLE . The atmosphere. Geography. High altitude residents. Travelers and workers at high altitude. Genetics and genomics of exposure to high altitude. PHYSIOLOGIC RESPONSES TO HYPOXIA. Acclimatization. Pulmonary gas exchange. Control of breathing. Oxygen affinity and acid¿base balance. Cardiovascular system. Central nervous system. Hematologic responses. Peripheral tissues. Energy balance and metabolism. Endocrine and metabolism. Sleep. Exercise. Physiology of extreme altitude. CLINICAL HIGH ALTITUDE MEDICINE. Acute mountain sickness. High altitude cerebral edema. High altitude pulmonary edema. Other medical conditions that occur at high altitude. Chronic altitude illness. High altitude travel with preexisting medical conditions. Children, the elderly, and women at high altitude. Other environmental illnesses in the mountains. Index.