Spirometrimätning vid akut exponering till hypoxi i ett höghöjdstält

Sammanfattning

High altitude training has for a long time been a part of athletes training program. Methods to make high altitude more available to athletes has been developed, for example high-altitude tents. Because of the ventilatory response to hypoxia, ventilation starts adapting after just minutes in hypoxia. There is a large individual variability how people react to high altitude, some gets better, and some gets worse. In previous studies regarding spirometry at high altitude there are heterogenous results for how TV, FVC, FEV1 and MVV change in high altitude. The aim of this thesis is to contribute with knowledge on how lung function is affected by acute exposure (<1 hour) to the same altitudes where most training camps are at. Eight adults participated both men (n = 6) and women (n = 2), age (25 ± 2 years). None of the participants smoked, had asthma, any other lung, heart, or vascular disease. Spirometry measurements of TV, FVC, FEV1 and MVV were done at three heights 1000, 2000 and 3000 meter inside a high-altitude tent. To see if there was a correlation between VO2max and spirometry measurements Ekblom-Bak cycle ergometer test was done in normoxia. The results showed no significant change in any spirometry measurement between any tested altitude, but a large individual variation was found. A significant correlation was found between VO2max (l/min) and FVC and FEV1 at all heights except for baseline. To athletes who are going to train at high altitude these results show the importance of knowing how one reacts to altitude before implementing training.