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The partial pressure of oxygen at the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe but a molehill by Himalayan standards, is only half that at sea level. So it's hardly surprising that mountain climbing is physiologically challenging. The High Altitude Medicine Handbook (Radcliffe Medical Press, £17.95, ISBN 1 857752147) gives a clear account of acute mountain sickness and its complications, pulmonary and cerebral oedema, and is required reading for expedition doctors or anyone else planning …