Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor’s Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance 1st Edition PDF

Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor’s Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance 1st Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Kenneth Kamler Page ID: 0312280777

.com Review

Medical case studies can be fascinating to read, full of drama, heroism, and sometimes tragedy. Most doctors’ tales take place in clinics or hospitals, but those pedestrian settings are not for Kenneth Kamler, who practices medicine outside, patching people up with surprising success under harrowing conditions. Surviving the Extremes starts with open-air surgery in the steamy jungles of the River, moves to disturbingly detailed descriptions of the many ways humans can die at sea, and from there takes white-knuckled readers through the rest of Earth’s extreme environments. Krakauer fans will gasp at the book’s best chapter, covering the high-altitude medical feats Kamler has performed on Mt. Everest and other peaks. “No course in medical school taught me the proper mixture of oxygen, IV fluids, and Tibetan chants to treat a subdural hematoma in below-zero temperatures on a 3-mile-high glacier,” Kamler writes. Instead, he has learned the fine art of adventure doctoring by doing it, and in the process, he’s won fans among the world’s most prominent risk-takers. Through it all, Kamler remains fascinated by the human body’s ability to heal under horrifically dangerous conditions. His medical adventures are inspiring and thrilling, as well as occasionally bloody and disgusting. In short, perfect stories of human survival. –Therese Littleton

From Publishers Weekly

Ever since Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, books about human survival have captured readers’ imagination. Add this book to the list. Kamler is no office-room doctor, preferring to use his skills on survival missions. As he puts it in his prologue, “I practice medicine where I don’t belong.” He takes the reader along on his explorations-be they on the or on Mt. Everest. While on the former, he used his medical techniques to save locals; on the latter, he saved climbers, including some of those threatened during the ill-fated 1996 climb chronicled by Krakauer. But Kamler’s book is far more than just a story of his own explorations. He uses his journey as a launching point for investigating the nature of survival. In a style reminiscent of Oliver Sacks, he details remarkable stories of human endurance in adverse conditions-adrift at sea in a raft, lost in an unknown desert-while simultaneously educating the reader in the science of survival. For Kamler, the secret lies in the brain, which provides the key to survival: “If the will is there, the brain initiates actions that are appropriate responses to the environmental stress.” Even readers who aren’t survivalists themselves will find their brains stimulated by Kamlers fluid writing and lively stories.
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Hardcover: 304 pagesPublisher: St. Martin’s Press; 1st edition (January 20, 2004)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0312280777ISBN-13: 978-0312280772 Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds Best Sellers Rank: #857,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #158 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Biophysics #226 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Extreme Sports #329 in Books > Textbooks > Medicine & Health Sciences > Medicine > Clinical > Infectious Diseases

This is one of the most interesting books I have read in ages. I’ll agree with the other reviewer that the jacket information is misleading. This isn’t really a "thriller" as conventionally defined. The author shares some first person as well as historical anecdotes but this really is an incredible biology book, interweaving physiology with some evolutionary biology. A very thoughtful and well-written book! It leaves the reader with jaw-dropping respect for the human body and its ability to adapt to extreme situations. It also touches on the adaptations other animals have to routinely live in environments which are totally inhospitable to humans. It is just too bad that people are disappointed in it because it isn’t what the jacket says it is. I have taught basic survival classes for teens and I’m really glad to have this book to recommend because it is a different slant compared to what is out there in survival literature. My teenage daughters read Into Thin Air in high school English and I just wish I had this book before the younger one did her paper last month on dehydration!

While searching for additional Kamler works, I ran across the existing reviews and feel compelled to add a word or two.

I saw Dr. Kamler interviewed on television. I did not find him egocentric at all. But I was intrigued by the survival aspect of his work. As a result sought out the book (in hardback, which I very seldom do). I was more than pleased! Except best sellers and classics, I don’t often read novels — but this was far more exciting, adventurous, and inspiring than any novel I can recall reading.

I know nothing about phenomenal new medical technology. I dislike exercise, let alone serious physical conditioning! I’ve never traveled to a third world country, gone deeper into the ocean than snorkeling, or higher than Pike’s Peak in a car. But Kamler’s descriptions of places, environments and cultures I’ll never see were riveting. He made advanced medical concepts simple to grasp, physical conditiioning admirable, and natural extremes of nature mind-boggling. His descriptions of natural beauty were stragely lyric. He truly changed the way I think about mankind. But the real value of this work is his focus on the ability of the human body, mind and spirit to understand, adapt, and survive the unimaginable. In that he is a master. I will continue to anticipate his future works!

After reading about Kenneth’s’ visits to the forest, underwater caves, and the top of Mount Everest, to name a few, you may be struck by the explorer bug too. Ken’s main job on the excursions in this book is to act as main medical advisor, but thankfully, he is also a grade A writer. He recounts his trips; I will not spoil the book by recounting them here, from a mostly medical point of view. At heart Ken is a humanist seeking to find out how and why the few who choose to live in the extremes, (95% of the earth is uninhabitable by humans) do so. He goes into great depth describing the cultural and physical adaptations that people under-go. After many generations living a rough life natural selection has weeded the weak and stupid away leaving only the most suited for survival in any given "extreme" area of the world.

Don’t let the title scare you off. This isn’t a gimmick book that slathers its tile with the adjective "extreme", this is truly meant in a most literal fashion. If you are intrigued by the inner workings of the ER or even the TV show ER, then I would recommend this to you. If you have read the best seller "Into Thin-Air" by Jon Krakauer, you may be interested in the fact that Kenneth Kamler was the ill-fated expedition’s doctor on the spot and he has recounted his point of view of the tragedy in one of the chapters.

Some of the places you’ll visit and learn the many ways you can die (and the slim chances of your survival):

1. the jungle

2. lost at sea (above)

3. the heat of the desert

4. the pressure of the deep sea (below)

5. the top of Everest

6. and the vacuum of space

After you read this, you’ll be able to amaze your friends with your knowledge of cannibalism and butt parasites.

Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Limits Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance Most doctors tales take place in clinics or Looking for the Audiobook Edition Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Limits A Doctor s Journey to the Limits of Human Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Limits of of information about physiology and endurance Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Limits Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Doctors pinned down by Kamler explains the limit to human endurance and in extreme environments and Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to Kenneth Kamler Surviving the Extremes A Doctor s Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance Category Biophysics Publisher St Martin s Press 1st

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