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Determining the time needed for workers to acclimatize to hypoxia

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Abstract

This study aimed to determine the influence of intermittent hypoxia and the days required for a worker to be acclimatized in high-altitude countries. We conducted an experimental study. Ten nonsmoking male students were randomly recruited from King Saud University. Fourteen days of exposure to intermittent normobaric hypoxia (15%) was the independent variable. Heart rate (HR), respiratory frequency (RF), minute ventilation (VE), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), tidal volume (VT), oxygen uptake (VO2),VO2/kg, VO2/HR, VE/VO2, and VE/VCO2 were the dependent variables. Our results showed that 12 days of exposure to intermittent hypoxia were sufficient for workers to acclimatize to hypoxia based on their respiratory responses (i.e., HR, RF, VE). This type of acclimatization session is very important for workers who are suddenly required to work in such an environment, because prolonged exposure to high altitude without acclimatization leads to cell death due to a lack of oxygen, and this, in turn, puts workers’ lives at risk.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Research Supporting Project (RSP2020/75), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Atef M. Ghaleb, Mohamed Z. Ramadan & Ahmed Badwelan

  2. Department of Zoology , College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Lamjed Mansour & Jameel Al-Tamimi

  3. Department of Exercise Physiology, College of Sport Sciences & Physical Activity, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Khalid Saad Aljaloud

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  1. Atef M. Ghaleb
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  2. Mohamed Z. Ramadan
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  3. Ahmed Badwelan
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  6. Khalid Saad Aljaloud
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Correspondence to Atef M. Ghaleb.

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Ghaleb, A.M., Ramadan, M.Z., Badwelan, A. et al. Determining the time needed for workers to acclimatize to hypoxia. Int J Biometeorol 64, 1995–2005 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01989-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01989-8

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