Abstract
Oxygen (O2) is an important chemical element that represents approximately 21 % of the Earth’s atmosphere. Until the end of the 1800s, science has known little about the effects of O2 depletion in the body. This prompted researchers of the late nineteenth century to investigate the physiological effects of high altitude. In 1878, French physiologist Paul Bert provided the first scientific evidence that the lack of O2 (hypoxia) caused an incomplete saturation of the blood leading to “undue hyperpnea with exercise, nausea, headaches, and great depression”. Since that time, research and clinical observations have demonstrated that hypoxia, whether acute or chronic, causes certain predictable physiologic responses. These occur irrespective of whether hypoxia is induced by a pathological disease or by the environment, such as by exposure to high altitude.
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Notes
- 1.
In clinical practice, the severity of apnea is associated to the apnea-hypopnea index, defined by the number of such episodes per hour of sleep. The task force suggested apnea hypopnea index (AHI) cutpoints of 5, 15, and 30 events/hour to indicate mild, moderate, and severe levels of (Young et al. 2002).
- 2.
Tufik et al. (2010).
- 3.
Sassani et al. (2004).
- 4.
Levine (1960).
- 5.
Rice et al. (1981).
- 6.
- 7.
Hendricks et al. (1987).
- 8.
Kimoff et al. (1994).
- 9.
The symbol Torr is a non-international system of units of pressure (1 Torr = 1 mmHg =9.337 × 10-3 psi).
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Perry, J.C., Decker, M.J. (2016). Hypoxia: Introduction of Mechanisms and Consequences. In: Andersen, M., Tufik, S. (eds) Rodent Model as Tools in Ethical Biomedical Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11578-8_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11578-8_24
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