The Use of Simulated Altitude Techniques for Beneficial Cardiovascular Health Outcomes in Nonathletic, Sedentary, and Clinical Populations: A Literature Review

Abstract

In a clinical cohort, PHE for 3-4 hours at 2700-4200 m for 2-3 weeks may improve blood lipid profile, myocardial perfusion, and exercise capacity, while 3 weeks of IHE treatment may improve baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability. In the sedentary population, IHE was most likely to improve submaximal exercise tolerance, time to exhaustion, and heart rate variability. Hematological adaptations were unclear. Typically, a 4-week intervention of 1-hour-long PHE intervals 5 days a week, at a fraction of inspired oxygen (FO) of 0.15, was beneficial for pulmonary ventilation, submaximal exercise, and maximum oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]O), but an FO of 0.12 reduced hyperemic response and antioxidative capacity. While IHT may be beneficial for increased lipid metabolism in the short term, it is unlikely to confer any additional advantage over normoxic exercise over the long term. IHT may improve vascular health and autonomic balance.

Physiological and Biological Responses to Short-Term Intermittent Hypobaric Hypoxia Exposure: From Sports and Mountain Medicine to New Biomedical Applications

“…A growing body of knowledge supports the beneficial effects of natural or simulated altitude techniques on health outcomes (Navarrete-Opazo and Mitchell, 2014 ; Millet et al, 2016 ; Lizamore and Hamlin, 2017 ). Future research should be oriented to: (1) gain more in-depth knowledge of the subcellular mechanisms involved in the hypoxic response at different tissue levels, (2) standardize hypoxia exposure methods and establish a universal method for measuring, and repeatedly applying, hypoxic dosage, (3) improve predictions of individual hypoxia tolerance to prevent possible negative consequences, (4) apply this new knowledge to the selection and education of altitude workers, (5) improve altitude acclimatization, altitude training camps and altitude competition events to benefit mountaineers, athletes and coaches, and finally (6) cautiously explore the application of IEHH in pathological conditions.…”

The Use of Artificial Hypoxia in Endurance Training in Patients after Myocardial Infarction

“…One of the factors influencing the formation of collateral circulation is hypoxia, which induces angiogenesis and arteriogenesis, which in turn result in the formation of new vessels [7,8]. The effectiveness of training under normobaric hypoxia has also been confirmed many times in clinical trials of overweight patients [9,10], geriatric patients [11], and sedentary patients [12]. Therefore, the possibility of using artificial hypoxia in the posthospital (early and late) cardiac rehabilitation program should be considered, especially using physical exercise performed in conditions of reduced oxygen content, both in normobaric and hypobaric conditions, as an additional method of inducing the development of collateral circulation.…”

Enhancing cardiac vagal activity: Factors of interest for sport psychology

“…However, when the organism adapts to the high altitudes, CVA progressively increases and can therefore be used as a marker of adaptation to high altitude hypoxia (Bhaumik, Dass, Bhattacharyya, Sharma, & Singh, 2013;Passino et al, 1996). When individuals return to lower altitude levels after dwelling in moderate altitudes, a positive effect on CVA remains for a certain time (Schobersberger, Leichtfried, Mueck-Weymann, & Humpeler, 2010), which mirrors the cardiovascular adaptations of altitude on training (Hamlin, Lizamore, & Hopkins, 2018;Lizamore & Hamlin, 2017). The effects of training may differ according to the altitude: for example the same training loads have been found to induce a positive effect on CVA and performance at 1200 m but not at 1850 m (Schmitt et al, 2006).…”