Mayo Clinic team leaving for Mount Everest

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Apr 13, 2012 at 12:51 pm

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — A six-member Mayo Clinic team leaves Rochester Monday for a month-long expedition to Nepal and Mount Everest.

The team includes five Mayo researchers who will be conducting scientific tests on a team of Everest climbers sponsored by The North Face and the National Geographic Society. It also includes an embedded reporter from the Mayo Clinic News Network, who will be offering regular reports on their work.

Because Everest is the highest mountain in the world, Mayo officials say it's a natural lab for studying heart disease, lung problems, muscle loss, sleeping disorders and new medical technologies. The extreme altitude puts climbers under the same conditions experienced by patients suffering from heart disease, obesity and advanced age. The data is expected to provide new insights into aging patients and heart disease.

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