Risks to Reproductive Health for Women Living at High Altitude are Explored in a Special Issue of High Altitude Medicine & Biology.

Health/Medical Writers

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LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 2003

Approximately 140 million persons live at high altitude worldwide, and for women, nature presents unique challenges and risks for their ability to reproduce and the health of their babies. The reduced oxygen levels present at high altitudes pose a serious danger to the developing fetus and can greatly compromise a woman's ability to bear children. The special risks to reproductive health and fetal development at high altitudes is the focus of the Summer 2003 (Volume 4, Number 2) issue of High Altitude Medicine & Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The entire issue is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/HAM.

"Reproduction at high altitude has great historical significance," says Editor-in-Chief John West, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Physiology, at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. "When the Spanish conquistadors invaded Peru, few pure Spanish children were born and survived at high altitude, whereas the native population had no problem reproducing. In the U.S., babies born at high altitude, such as in Leadville, CO, have reduced birth weights. The high altitude contributes to oxygen deprivation in the fetus."

Highlighting this special issue are papers evaluating the effects of chronic hypoxia on fertility, vascular changes and oxygen transport in the mother, and placental development. How the fetus adapts to high altitude is the focus of reports on natural responses seen in animals to withstand hypoxia, including fetal cardiac and cerebrovascular acclimatization responses to long-term hypoxia. Cardiopulmonary transition in the high altitude infant and ventricular enlargement resulting from perinatal hypoxia round out the topics covered in this special issue.

"The articles assembled in this issue suggest possible answers to the question of what 'goes wrong' in efforts to reproduce at high altitude," says Guest Editor Lorna G. Moore, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Medicine and Preventive Medicine at the Colorado Center for High Altitude Medicine and Physiology, Health Sciences and Denver Campuses of the University of Colorado. "Fertility problems seem an unlikely cause. Rather, exaggerated fetal growth restriction and elevated mortality and morbidity during infancy are the most likely explanations."

High Altitude Medicine & Biology is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online. It is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated exclusively to the latest advances in high altitude life sciences. The journal presents findings on the effects of chronic hypoxia on lung and heart disease, pulmonary and cerebral edema, hypertension, dehydration, infertility, appetite and weight loss, and other diseases. A complete table of contents and full text for this issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/HAM.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women's Health and Journal of Aerosol Medicine. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsletters is available at www.liebertpub.com.