2000/01/01 by Giovanni Fiori, Fiorenzo Facchini, Orazak Ismagulov +4 · 36 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Medicine · #Altitude (triangle) #Anatomy #Animal science #Biology #Birth, Development, and Health #Cardiology #Climate Change and Health Impacts #Diffusing capacity #Effects of high altitude on humans #Hematocrit #Hemoglobin #High Altitude and Hypoxia #Internal medicine #Lung #Lung function #Lung volumes #Medicine #Pulmonary function testing #Vital capacity
paper · doi:10.1002/1096-8644(200009)113:1<47::aid-ajpa5>3.0.co;2-k
published in American Journal of Physical Anthropology 113(1), 47-59 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2000/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
To evaluate adaptive responses to high-altitude environment, we examined three groups of healthy adult males from Central Asia: 94 high-altitude (HA) Kirghiz subjects (3,200 m above sea level); 114 middle-altitude (MA) Kazakh subjects (2,100 m), and 90 low-altitude (LA) Kirghiz subjects (900 m). Data on chest size (chest perimeter and chest diameter), lung volume (forced expiratory volume (FEV) and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1)), and hematological parameters (hemoglobin, erythrocytes, hematocrit, and SaO(2)) are discussed. The results show that 1) chest shape is less flat in the samples living at higher altitude. In the HA sample, chest perimeter is lower but chest excursion is high. 2) In the highlanders, forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1 are no higher than in the other samples, even when corrected for stature and body weight. The negative correlation between FVC-FEV1 and age decreases with increasing altitude. 3) The HA and MA samples have higher values of hemoglobin, erythrocytes, and hematocrit. The HA sample has lower SaO(2) and higher arterial oxygen content than the LA sample. No association between hematocrit and age was detected in the four samples. The results indicate that the high-altitude Kirghiz present features of developmental acclimatization to hypobaric hypoxia which are also strongly influenced by other major high-altitude environmental stresses.