Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

On March 23rd we.... we being Jane King and Mary Gwynn.... are setting off on a three week ‘trip of a lifetime’ to Everest Base Camp. This is, in itself, quite a big deal for a couple of fifty-five year old women, whose only experience of roughing it to-date has been camping in the rain in South Devon at the age of twelve. But this is no ordinary trip to Everest Base Camp (if such a thing as an ordinary trip to Everest Base Camp exists!)  We are part of Extreme Everest 2, a team of intensive care doctors, nurses and scientists who are setting out to conduct experiments on themselves and other volunteers (us!!!) at high altitude, to develop new therapies to improve the survival rate of their patients. Phew.... 

So why us? 

Because we're identical twins. Which is how it all began. 

Some time in the middle of last year we got an email from the Twin UK registry at St Thomas’s hospital. We take part from time to time in various studies looking at genetic and environmental influences on a range of conditions from ageing to allergies. We fill in questionnaires online about our diets, take part in trials for new vitamins, occasionally go to St Thomas’s for tests into anything from our hearing to how we experience pain. (Ouch!) 

This time it was something a bit different... the offer of a chance to go to Everest Base Camp as part of a research project conducted by University College London. No details provided at this stage. But we said yes.... Because you would, wouldn’t you.......? Well, wouldn’t you........

And at the end of August we got another email saying we had been selected for the trip. And we were on. It was at this stage that we learnt more about the purpose of the project. 

In the UK one in five of us will end up in intensive care at some point in our life. Of those, 40% will die. Despite intensive care being one of the most sophisticated areas of hospital care, there is still limited understanding of why some people survive and some die. Hypoxia - lack of oxygen reaching the body’s vital organs - is a common problem for patients in an intensive care unit. But clearly you can’t waltz in and do tests on people who are extremely ill. Which is why we are going up high to find the low oxygen levels required for conducting experiments to help develop therapies to improve the survival rates of intensive care patients. 

The kind of questions they are looking to answer include:

1. Oxygen Use - does your body use oxygen more efficiently at altitude? 
2. Do we use different fuel types at altitude? Do we swap from fat to carbohydrate?
3. Does your genetic makeup (your genes) determine your performance at altitude?
4. Does your brain blood flow change with low oxygen at altitude?
5. Are you more likely to get acute mountain sickness (acute altitude sickness) if your brain blood flow/brain oxygen level is reduced?
6. Do you lose weight at altitude?

So it’s a pretty good cause. And one that has particular resonance for us. Because at the end of 2011 our dear wonderful dad spent three weeks in intensive care after a major operation. But his lungs were unable to deliver the oxygen he needed to his vital organs and he died. So this matters to us...... a lot. And anything we can do to help improve understanding of how people cope with low oxygen levels we are more than happy to do.

By the way, we are paying for the treks ourselves so any money we raise will go to fund the research.

So please dig deep and donate now.