The Body at the Edge: Human Physiology, Survival, and Medicine in Extreme Environments (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798258942623)

The Body at the Edge is a compelling exploration of how the human body responds when the environment becomes a threat. From desert heat to high-altitude hypoxia, from polar cold and underwater pressure to toxic air, deep caves, confinement, disaster settings, and the microgravity of space, Dr. Francisco Epelde examines the limits of human physiology with clarity, scientific rigor, and clinical insight.

This book does not present survival as romance or adventure, but as a biological process. It asks how the body protects temperature, oxygen delivery, hydration, circulation, cognition, and life itself when external conditions push human systems beyond their ordinary range. Across its chapters, readers discover how adaptation works, why it sometimes succeeds, and where the narrow boundary between resilience and failure begins.

Written for physicians, health professionals, explorers, students, and curious general readers, The Body at the Edge connects extreme environments with everyday medicine. The same body that struggles at altitude also struggles in lung disease; the same body that weakens in microgravity also weakens during prolonged bed rest; the same body that fails in heat is shaped by age, frailty, illness, and limited reserve.

Rigorous yet accessible, The Body at the Edge is a powerful journey into survival, adaptation, and medicine at the limits of human capability-on Earth and beyond.