St George's student on top of the world

An intrepid St George’s student who braved the treacherous slopes of Mount Everest is celebrating news that his team’s world-first research could save the lives of tens of thousands of patients with critically low oxygen levels. And the vital research that medical student James Hambly’s team did at Everest has just been published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

James was part of a team of 200 volunteer doctors, scientists and veteran mountaineers who trekked to Everest Base Camp, 5,400 metres above sea level. James made the gruelling trek as part of the medical research expedition Caudwell Xtreme Everest, undertaken to explore the effects of high altitude oxygen deprivation. Some of the team went to the 8,848 metre summit — in the area above 8,000 metres known as the Death Zone. There they recorded the lowest blood oxygen levels ever found in someone not on the verge of death. Now the groundbreaking results have been published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. And the team hopes the research could help doctors create better techniques to treat intensive care patients suffering from low oxygen, including those with heart and lung problems and premature babies.

James, who gave up a place in the London Marathon to join the expedition in 2007, was inspired to join the trek to Everest when the expedition leader, Dr Mike Grocott, gave a talk at St George’s. Skier and snowboarder James said his 21-day trip was “extremely exciting and an enormous undertaking”. Setting off from Kathmandu for base camp in March 2007, the team travelled slowly to avoid the worst symptoms of high altitude sickness. James and the other volunteers — two of whom were in their 70s — had their blood oxygen tested four times as they climbed higher.

James said: “As far as altitude sickness went, the worst I suffered were mild headaches above 5,000 metres — thankfully! But it was all worth it — to be part of such groundbreaking research was so worthwhile.”

The climbers who made it to the summit were faced with a temperature of -25C and winds above 20 knots. The conditions were too severe to take measurements, so the team descended to shelter a little below the summit. Four team members took off their oxygen masks to bring their lungs into balance with the low-oxygen atmosphere. Twenty minutes later, they removed their gloves, unzipped their down suits and took blood samples from the femoral arteries in their groins. These were the first blood oxygen measurements ever taken from climbers near the top of Everest. A sherpa then carried the samples back down the mountain as quickly as possible to a camp at 6,400 metres, so they could be analysed within two hours. The results confirmed what had been suspected — that high-altitude climbers have incredibly low levels of blood oxygen, which would only normally be seen in patients near to death at sea level. The average reading, measured in units of pressure called kilopascals, was 3.28. The lowest was 2.55 kilopascals. A healthy level is 12-14, while anything below eight means the patient is usually considered critically ill.

James added that his trip had been “a once in a lifetime experience… until the next time!”

The results of the study were published in the January 2009 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. Find a summary of the article here