Open AccessAnalysis of High-Altitude De-Acclimatization Syndrome after Exposure to High Altitudes: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial
Author(s) -
Binfeng He,
Jianchun Wang,
Guisheng Qian,
Mingdong Hu,
Xinming Qu,
Zhenghua Wei,
Jin Li,
Yan Chen,
Huaping Chen,
Qian Zhou,
Guansong Wang
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0062072
Subject(s) - acclimatization , effects of high altitude on humans , altitude (triangle) , medicine , low altitude , incidence (geometry) , biology , ecology , physics , geometry , mathematics , optics , anatomy
The syndrome of high-altitude de-acclimatization commonly takes place after long-term exposure to high altitudes upon return to low altitudes. The syndrome severely affects the returnee's quality of life. However, little attention has been paid to careful characterization of the syndrome and their underlying mechanisms. Male subjects from Chongqing (n = 67, 180 m) and Kunming (n = 70, 1800 m) visited a high-altitude area (3650 m) about 6 months and then returned to low-altitude. After they came back, all subjects were evaluated for high-altitude de-acclimatization syndrome on the 3 rd , 50 th , and 100 th . Symptom scores, routine blood and blood gas tests, and myocardial zymograms assay were used for observation their syndrome. The results showed that the incidence and severity of symptoms had decreased markedly on the 50 th and 100 th days, compared with the 3 rd day. The symptom scores and incidence of different symptoms were lower among subjects returning to Kunming than among those returning to Chongqing. On the 3 rd day, RBC, Hb, Hct, CK, CK-MB, and LDH values were significantly lower than values recorded at high altitudes, but they were higher than baseline values. On the 50 th day, these values were not different from baseline values, but LDH levels did not return to baseline until the 100 th day. These data show that, subjects who suffered high-altitude de-acclimatization syndrome, the recovery fully processes takes a long time (≥100 th days). The appearance of the syndrome is found to be related to the changes in RBC, Hb, Hct, CK, CK-MB, and LDH levels, which should be caused by reoxygenation after hypoxia.