{"id":20348,"date":"2014-12-11T18:47:47","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T00:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=20348"},"modified":"2016-12-12T16:23:08","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T23:23:08","slug":"do-everest-climbers-use-performance-enhancing-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/11\/do-everest-climbers-use-performance-enhancing-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Everest Climbers Use Performance Enhancing Drugs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The title says it all. EverestER, and the University of Washington have developed a survey to try and answer this question in an unbiased and objective manner. If you have attempted Everest, the survey<\/a> is for you. It is anonymous, confidential and you can chose what questions to answer. I took the survey myself.<\/p>\n

In my 37 major expeditions including four to Everest, I personally never witnessed an over use of drugs other than to illness. Some did use Diamox to accelerate acclimatization but this survey is trying to get to more serious drugs used to enhance a climber’s overall performance.<\/p>\n

Outside Magazine did somewhat of a disservice, in my opinion, with a 2013 article entitled “Climbing’s Little Helper<\/a>” where they profiled one case of a climber who abused the drug dexamethassone. The article somewhat extrapolated his case to cast a shadow over climbers in general comparing them to doping in other competitive sports.<\/p>\n

In any event this is the letter from EverestEr and the link to the survey<\/a>. Perhaps this will give us some insight into the realities of PEDs and climbing. I’ll report on their findings. I hope my opinion holds up and will be quite disappointed if I’m proved wrong on behalf of the sport I love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n
Medication Use By Climbers on Mount Everest<\/strong>Looking For Climbers Who Have Attempted to Climb Mount EverestExposure to high altitude poses a risk of developing one of three forms of acute altitude illness: acute mountain sickness, high altitude cerebral edema and high altitude pulmonary edema. Medications are available to prevent these problems and are commonly used by travelers at moderate elevations (e.g., 3000-5000 m) for this purpose. Recent reports suggest that climbers traveling to extremely high elevations on Mount Everest and other peaks are also using these medications to improve physical performance and\/or increase their odds of reaching the summit without developing altitude illness. Despite these reports, little is known about exactly how common these practices are.<\/p>\n

We are conducting a research survey in order to estimate the number of climbers on Mount Everest who are using medications in this manner.\u00a0 People who have attempted to climb Mount Everest \u2013 whether they were successful in summiting or not \u2013 are eligible to participate. If are eligible and choose to participate, you will find a link to the anonymous on-line survey at the bottom of this email. The survey will less than 20 minutes to complete and does not require you to provide any personal information.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Participation in this study is voluntary. You may decline to answer any question in the survey. All of the information you provide in the survey will remain anonymous and no one will be able to identify you from the information you provide in the survey. Although you will not benefit directly from this survey, we anticipate that information learned from the survey will help guide medical practice with regard to climbers on Mount Everest and other large Himalayan mountains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at aluks@u.washington.edu, although please be reminded that the confidentiality of emails cannot be guaranteed. We appreciate your time and effort in completing this survey and look forward to reviewing the information you provide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click here to complete this survey<\/strong>: https:\/\/catalyst.uw.edu\/webq\/survey\/aluks\/252982<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If the link does not work, you can copy and paste it in your web browser.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PLEASE REMEMBER TO CLICK ON “SUBMIT” AT THE END OF THE SURVEY TO ENSURE THAT YOUR ANSWERS ARE ALL SAVED PROPERLY.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Andrew M. Luks, MD<\/em><\/p>\n

Associate Professor, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine<\/em><\/h5>\n
University of Washington<\/em><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Luanne Freer, MD<\/address>\n

Everest ER<\/em><\/p>\n

Himalayan Rescue Association<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Colin Grissom, MD<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor of Medicine<\/em><\/p>\n

University of Utah<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peter Hackett, MD<\/em><\/p>\n

Institute for High Altitude Medicine<\/em><\/p>\n

Telluride, Colorado<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The title says it all. 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