The treatment, first tried out on soldiers posted at Siachen, came in handy for treating the Kargil soldiers suffering from a form of acute mountain sickness, medically known as high pulmonary oedema (HAPO), which can be fatal.

Indian troops being dispatched to Kargil also availed an acclimatisation schedule chalked out for Siachen soldiers.

The new life-saving treatment for HAPO, developed by the Defence Institute for Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) here in collaboration with the High Altitude Medical Research Centre (HAMRC) at Leh, involves giving a mixture of nitric oxide and oxygen to relieve HAPO symptoms, DIPAS director Dr William Selwamurthy said.

HAPO is characterised by severe attacks of breathlessness, high blood pressure and decreased supply of oxygen in the body. HAPO may becomefatal if not treated immediately.

So far, the only effective treatment for HAPO was immediate descent and to some extent, giving oxygen.

The new life-saving treatment consists of giving a mixture of 15 parts per million (ppm) of nitric oxide gas and 50 per cent oxygen, Selwamurthy said. The two gases in the mixture work through two independent ion channels that regulate the expansion and constriction of blood vessels, Selwamurthy said.

The successful treatment, given to more than 20 soldiers, followed initial studies conducted at HAMRC on 43 soldiers suffering from HAPO.

The mixture was found to be of immense potential use for soldiers at Siachen and medical authorities are, in fact, considering using it to treat certain breathing disorders in the plains also.

Selwamurthy said scientists were trying to indigenously produce nitric oxide which was being imported at present from the United States and France at a high cost.

The High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) at Pune has developedtwo technologies to make nitric oxide and the indigenous product is expected to hit the market shortly, he said.

Defence scientists are also working on indigenising the gas delivery system such as masks, sensors to monitor the nitric oxide concentration, flow meters and mixing chamber, all of which are being imported at present.

DIPAS had earlier worked out a three-stage acclimatisation schedule for Siachen soldiers, which proved useful for troops going to Kargil.