Villafuerte and Corante have published a review on chronic mountain sickness (CMS) in High Altitude Medicine and Biology (June 2016). CMS or Monge’s disease is a highly prevalent progressive incapacitating syndrome. More than 140 million people live above 2500 m worldwide, and on average, 5-10% are at risk of developing CMS. It is caused by chronic hypoxic […]

Outdoor Medicine board members Maybritt and Wouter gave a workshop ‘medical kits, improvised splinting and patient transport at the Dutch Emergency Medicine Conference 2016 last week. They were supported by Reddingsbrigade Egmond aan Zee and Surfing doctors. The participants practiced a kitesurf accident scenario at the beach of Egmond aan Zee. Two kite surfers had […]

You do not have to go abroad to encounter wilderness medicine: insect bites, hypothermia, hyperthermia but also mountain biking and diving accidents occur in the Netherlands. Diving is becoming more and more popular. Smithuis et al. have shared their data on diving accidents in the Netherlands in the International Journal of Emergency Medicine. 43 patients […]

Be prepared! Besides fitness, skills and knowing a thing or two about general medicine you need to gain some specific knowledge on expedition medicine before heading out. Matt Wilkes explains why it is important to follow an expedition medicine course and how you can choose which course to follow in last week’s BMJ Careers. You can read […]

UV keratitis is the result of acute high-dose or suprathreshold UV radiation. It can cause severe ocular pain, tearing, conjunctival chemosis, blepharospasm and deterioration of vision. The onset is typically several hours after exposure. UV keratitis can be prevented by minimizing radiation exposure (e.g. wearing a hat, sunglasses, UV-blocking contact lenses). Depending on the degree of UV […]