Low blood oxygen levels on Mount Qomolangma offer treatment hope

A team of British doctors conducting experiments in the "Death Zone" of Mount Qomolangma has recorded the lowest levels of blood oxygen in humans, far below those of critically ill patients.

The findings published on Wednesday could one day lead to better care for patients with heart and lung ailments in intensive care units, premature babies and others suffering from similar low-oxygen levels, known as hypoxia.

"We want to understand why humans respond differently to low oxygen levels," Mike Grocott, a researcher at University College London, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.