Rose M S, Houston C S, Fulco C S, Coates G, Sutton J R, Cymerman A
US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts 01760.
J Appl Physiol (1985). 1988 Dec;65(6):2545-51. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1988.65.6.2545.
Progressive body weight loss occurs during high mountain expeditions, but whether it is due to hypoxia, inadequate diet, malabsorption, or the multiple stresses of the harsh environment is unknown. To determine whether hypoxia due to decompression causes weight loss, six men, provided with a palatable ad libitum diet, were studied during progressive decompression to 240 Torr over 40 days in a hypobaric chamber where hypoxia was the major environmental variable. Caloric intake decreased 43.0% from 3,136 to 1,789 kcal/day (P less than 0.001). The percent carbohydrate in the diet decreased from 62.1 to 53.2% (P less than 0.001). Over the 40 days of the study the subjects lost 7.4 +/- 2.2 (SD) kg and 1.6% (2.5 kg) of the total body weight as fat. Computerized tomographic scans indicated that most of the weight loss was derived from fat-free weight. The data indicated that prolonged exposure to the increasing hypoxia was associated with a reduction in carbohydrate preference and body weight despite access to ample varieties and quantities of food. This study suggested that hypoxia can be sufficient cause for the weight loss and decreased food consumption reported by mountain expeditions at high altitude.
在高山探险过程中会出现体重逐渐减轻的情况，但体重减轻是由于缺氧、饮食不足、吸收不良还是恶劣环境的多重压力所致尚不清楚。为了确定减压引起的缺氧是否会导致体重减轻，研究人员让6名男性在低压舱内进行了40天的渐进性减压至240托的过程中进行研究，在该低压舱中缺氧是主要的环境变量，同时为他们提供可口的随意饮食。热量摄入从3136千卡/天降至1789千卡/天，下降了43.0%（P<0.001）。饮食中碳水化合物的百分比从62.1%降至53.2%（P<0.001）。在40天的研究期间，受试者体重减轻了7.4±2.2（标准差）千克，占总体重的1.6%（2.5千克）的脂肪。计算机断层扫描显示，大部分体重减轻来自去脂体重。数据表明，尽管有丰富多样的食物可供选择，但长时间暴露于不断增加的缺氧环境中会导致碳水化合物偏好降低和体重减轻。这项研究表明，缺氧可能是高山探险中报道的体重减轻和食物摄入量减少的充分原因。
