Exposure and Exercise Training in Hypoxic Conditions as a New Obesity Therapeutic Modality: A Mini Review

Abstract

Obesity is an important health problem caused by positive energy balance. Generally, low calorie dietary intake combined with regular exercise is the most common modality to lose bodily fat in obese people. Although this is the first modality of choice for obesity treatment, it needs to be applied to obese patients for at least 12 weeks or more and it does not provide consistent results because it is difficult to suppress increased appetite due to exercise. Recently, many researchers have been applying hypoxic conditions for the treatment of obesity, as many studies show that people residing in high altitudes have a lower percentage of body fat and fewer obesity-related illnesses than people living at sea level. Hypoxic therapy treatment, including hypoxic exposure or hypoxic exercise training, is recommended as a way to treat and prevent obesity by suppression of appetite, increasing basal metabolic rate and fat oxidation, and minimizing side effects. Hypoxic therapy inhibits energy intake and appetite-related hormones, and enhances various cardiovascular and metabolic function parameters. These observations indicate that hypoxic therapy is a new treatment modality for inducing fat reduction and promoting metabolic and cardiovascular health, which may be an important and necessary strategy for the treatment of obesity. As such, hypoxic therapy is now used as a general medical practice for obesity treatment in many developed countries. Therefore, hypoxic therapy could be a new, practical, and useful therapeutic modality for obesity and obesity-related comorbidities.

Twelve weeks of exercise modality in hypoxia enhances health‐related function in obese older Korean men: A randomized controlled trial

“…Exposure to hypoxia has been shown to be associated with greater weight loss in individuals with a higher body mass index . Exercise intervention in hypoxia is known to be effective in inducing the loss of bodyweight through various factors, including increased activity of appetite‐related gut hormones and adipocytokines, the change in energy substrate utilization, increased energy metabolic rate, reduced perception of hunger feeling with associated reduced food intake, and increased activity of various endocrine factors . In addition, hypoxic inducible factor‐1 expression changes, as hypoxia increases fat oxidation through regulating mitochondrial function .…”

“…Aging induces deterioration of various physiological functions, such as the decrease of muscle, pulmonary and cardiovascular functions, resulting in limiting physical activity . In addition, this issue also involves an increased obesity rate as a result of decreases in energy metabolism, metabolic hormone and muscle mass . Obesity in the older adult population has negative synergetic effects, leading to increased risk of premature mortality through various clinical diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders .…”

“…Today, many researchers are applying hypoxia widely for the treatment of obesity based on the results of studies that people residing at high altitudes have a lower percentage of body fat and obesity‐related illness than people living at sea level . Hypoxic therapy, such as exercise training in hypoxia, is a novel treatment method for obesity that is used as general medical practice in many developed countries . Various mechanisms for the beneficial effects of hypoxic therapy have been shown, such as appetite suppression, enhanced ability to transport oxygen to working muscle and improvement of fat oxidation .…”

“…In general, exercise intervention in hypoxia enhances respiratory muscle function through hypoxia‐induced chemoreceptor stimulation and hyperventilation . Adaptation to hypoxia inhibited the activity of the sympathetic nervous system by a decreased excretion rate of norepinephrine and an increase of vagal nerve activity . These physiological changes indicate that exercise intervention in hypoxia can enhance pulmonary function and HRV, which are important health‐related functions in obese older people.…”

“…2,3 In addition, this issue also involves an increased obesity rate as a result of decreases in energy metabolism, metabolic hormone and muscle mass. 4,5 Obesity in the older adult population has negative synergetic effects, leading to increased risk of premature mortality through various clinical diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders. [6][7][8] Therefore, various studies on anti-aging and anti-obesity are crucial in reducing the mortality rate through health promotion of the older adult population.…”