Medication Use Among Mount Everest Climbers: Practice and Attitudes

Area of Science:

• High-altitude medicine and physiology
• Mountaineering and expedition science
• Medical ethics in extreme environments

Background:

• Concerns exist regarding the ethics and incidence of medication use by Mount Everest climbers for performance enhancement.
• The true prevalence of using medications to improve summit success at high altitudes remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate medication and supplemental oxygen use among Mount Everest climbers.
• To understand climbers' attitudes toward using these interventions for altitude illness prevention and summit success.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous survey was administered to climbers who attempted Mount Everest.
• Data were collected on medication and oxygen use for 262 expeditions between 1963 and 2015.

Main Results:

• Medications were used in 43% of surveyed climbs, with acetazolamide being the most common.
• Use of dexamethasone, nifedipine, sildenafil, or tadalafil was infrequent.
• Most respondents found it acceptable to use medications and oxygen to prevent altitude illness.

Conclusions:

• Less than half of Mount Everest climbers utilize medications, predominantly acetazolamide, for altitude illness prevention.
• Climber opinions are divided on the equivalency of summiting with or without performance-enhancing medications or oxygen.
• Further research is needed to fully understand medication use and attitudes in high-altitude mountaineering.