{"title":"Mountains of research: Where and whom high-altitude physiology has overlooked","authors":"Joshua C. Tremblay","doi":"10.1113/jp285454","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"High altitude is a natural setting in which to study human acclimatization and adaptation. Here, I identify where and in whom high-altitude physiology research has occurred. There has been a mismatch between countries with large high-altitude populations <i>vs</i>. where high-altitude research has been conducted. From 1970 to 2020, 83% of high-altitude physiology research took place in just seven countries: Nepal, China, USA, Peru, India, Bolivia and Italy. Collectively, these countries account for only 35% of the global population living above 2500 m. Furthermore, high-altitude physiology research has predominantly studied low-altitude residents visiting high altitude and female participants are under-represented. Accordingly, the included populations are not necessarily a proportional representation of high-altitude residents. Here, I discuss how this influences our understanding of high-altitude adaptation. Finally, I highlight past initiatives to increase diversity in high-altitude research. By identifying the broad gaps in high-altitude physiology research, I propose exciting, inclusive opportunities to study human high-altitude physiology.","PeriodicalId":501632,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of Physiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"The Journal of Physiology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1113/jp285454","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
High altitude is a natural setting in which to study human acclimatization and adaptation. Here, I identify where and in whom high-altitude physiology research has occurred. There has been a mismatch between countries with large high-altitude populations vs. where high-altitude research has been conducted. From 1970 to 2020, 83% of high-altitude physiology research took place in just seven countries: Nepal, China, USA, Peru, India, Bolivia and Italy. Collectively, these countries account for only 35% of the global population living above 2500 m. Furthermore, high-altitude physiology research has predominantly studied low-altitude residents visiting high altitude and female participants are under-represented. Accordingly, the included populations are not necessarily a proportional representation of high-altitude residents. Here, I discuss how this influences our understanding of high-altitude adaptation. Finally, I highlight past initiatives to increase diversity in high-altitude research. By identifying the broad gaps in high-altitude physiology research, I propose exciting, inclusive opportunities to study human high-altitude physiology.