High Altitude Medical Science. G. Ueda, S. Kusama and N.F. Voelkel, editors.

Shinshu University Press, Matsumoto, 1988. 462 pages, charts, tables.

As Japanese climbers have swarmed over the highest Himalaya in the last twenty years, their doctors have been making important contributions to the science of high-altitude physiology. This remarkable book (all in English) contains seventy-seven chapters covering the effects of lack of oxygen, decreased pressure, exercise and cold on man and animals. Unfortunately, it lacks a section on human acclimatization and the multiple stresses of the high-mountain environment are scantily treated. The material was presented at a High Altitude Symposium sponsored by Shinshu University, in the Japanese Alps, in August 1987. This well printed book is certain to become an essential reference for all who work in altitude medicine.

Charles S. Houston, M.D.