RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Sea level and acute responses to hypoxia: do they predict physiological responses and acute mountain sickness at altitude?
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 141
OP 146
DO 10.1136/bjsm.36.2.141
VO 36
IS 2
A1 S Grant
A1 N MacLeod
A1 J W Kay
A1 M Watt
A1 S Patel
A1 A Paterson
A1 A Peacock
YR 2002
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/36/2/141.abstract
AB Objectives: To compare a range of physiological responses to acute sea level hypoxia at simulated altitudes with the same physiological responses and acute mountain sickness (AMS) scores measured at altitude (similar to the simulated altitudes) during a 17 day trek in the Himalayas. Methods: Twenty men and women aged 18–54 years took part in the study. End tidal CO2 tension (Petco2) and saturated oxygen (Sao2) were measured using a capnograph. Observations made at sea level and some simulated altitudes were compared with those in the Himalayas. Pairwise correlations were used to examine the correlation between variables and regression, with 95% prediction intervals providing information on how well one variable could be predicted from another for a given subject. Results: There was only a significant correlation for a few comparisons. The 95% prediction intervals for individual Sao2 values at a range of simulated altitudes were fairly wide going from ± 4% to ± 5%. All of the correlations between laboratory and Himalayan Petco2 values were not statistically significant. There was a significant correlation for the relation between Sao2and Petco2 at sea level for the laboratory data (r=−0.51; p=0.05). For the Himalayan data, there were significant correlations at Namche Bazaar (3450 m; day 3) (r=−0.56; p=0.01) and Dingboche (4300 m; day 6) (r=−0.48; p=0.03). The correlation between Sao2 and Petco2 and AMS was generally poor. Conclusions: The results indicate that limited information can be gained on a subject's response to altitude by assessing physiological variables at sea level and a range of simulated altitudes before the subject carries out a trek at altitude.