A joint party of Japanese and Chinese women will attempt to scale Mt. Everest this spring to research how high altitude affects the human body, members of the Japanese team said Wednesday.

The Japanese team, led by Shiori Hashimoto, associate professor at Tokyo Women's Medical University, consists of five members, of whom three are medical personnel.

They will leave Japan later this month to join the five members of the Chinese team. After reaching a base camp at around 5,150 meters, they plan to climb the 8,850-meter mountain in mid-May, they said.

While climbing the mountain, the medical experts will examine how peripheral blood vessels are affected in the condition of low pressure and hypoxia and how this affects memory and respiratory functions.

"We hope we will be able to collect medical data that are available only at high altitude, while deepening our friendship with the Chinese team," Hashimoto said.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies March 9, 2005)