Sherpas' bodies use oxygen more efficiently: Study
Cambridge researchers compared normal climbers' blood to those of Sherpas, a Nepalese ethnic group renowned for their climbing skills and endurance at high altitudes. They found, at low altitudes, Sherpas' body cells use oxygen more efficiently and at high altitudes, a phosphate energy reserve increases, which decreases in others. This may help develop new treatments for hypoxia (lack of oxygen).