Nocturnal oxygen enrichment of room air at 3800 meter altitude improves sleep architecture

Sleep is known to be impaired at high altitude, and this may be a factor contributing to reduced work efficiency, general malaise, and the development of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Nocturnal room oxygen enrichment at 3800 m has been shown to reduce the time spent in periodic breathing and the nu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHigh altitude medicine & biology Vol. 2; no. 4; p. 525
Main Authors Barash, I A, Beatty, C, Powell, F L, Prisk, G K, West, J B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.12.2001
Subjects
Adult
Air
Altitude
Altitude Sickness - prevention & control
Circadian Rhythm
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Electrocardiography
Environment, Controlled
Female
Hemodynamics
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Oxygen Inhalation Therapy
Polysomnography
Respiration
Sleep Wake Disorders - therapy
Treatment Outcome
Non-programmatic
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Summary:Sleep is known to be impaired at high altitude, and this may be a factor contributing to reduced work efficiency, general malaise, and the development of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Nocturnal room oxygen enrichment at 3800 m has been shown to reduce the time spent in periodic breathing and the number of apneas, to improve subjective quality of sleep, and to reduce the AMS score. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of oxygen enrichment to 24% at 3800 m (lowering the equivalent altitude to 2800 m) on sleep architecture. Full polysomnography and actigraphy were performed on 12 subjects who ascended in 1 day to 3800 m and slept in a specially constructed room that allowed oxygen enrichment or ambient air conditions in a randomized, crossover, double-blind study. The results showed that subjects spent a significantly greater percentage of time in deep sleep (stages III and IV combined, or slow wave sleep) with oxygen enrichment versus ambient air (17.2 +/- 10.0% and 13.9 +/- 6.7%, respectively; p < 0.05 in paired analysis). No differences between treatments were seen with subjective assessments of sleep quality or with subject's assessment of the extent to which they suffered from AMS. This study provides further objective evidence of improved sleep as a result of oxygen enrichment at 3800 m and suggests that alleviating hypoxia may improve sleep quality.
ISSN:1527-0297
DOI:10.1089/152702901753397090