Italian doctors to study heart disease on Mount Everest

| Sun, 09/07/2008 - 03:00

An Italian expedition will set up camp on Mount Everest later this month to collect scientific data on how lack of oxygen affects cardiovascular disease, organisers said on Friday.

The Highcare project involves a group of 46 doctors, bio-engineers and mountain climbers and includes a group of volunteers ready to face the rigours of Mount Everest.

The volunteers, whose ages range from 18 to 65, are equally divided between male and female, organisers said.

Doctors said that studying lack of oxygen at high quotas can also prove useful to better understand how some chronic impairments, including heart and lung diseases, develop.

Experts will also monitor the effectiveness of drugs used in treating these diseases.

The expedition will set off on September 9 and will last a month.