Impact of intermittent hypoxia and exercise on blood pressure and metabolic features from obese subjects suffering sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome

Abstract

Strategies designed to reduce adiposity and cardiovascular-accompanying manifestations have been based on nutritional interventions conjointly with physical activity programs. The aim of this 13-week study was to investigate the putative benefits associated to hypoxia plus exercise on weight loss and relevant metabolic and cardiorespiratory variables, when prescribed to obese subjects with sleep apnea syndrome following dietary advice. The participants were randomly distributed in the following three groups: control, normoxia, and hypoxia. All the subjects received dietary advice while, additionally, normoxia group was trained under normal oxygen concentration and Hypoxia group under hypoxic conditions. There was a statistically significant decrease in fat-free mass (Kg) and water (%) on the control compared to normoxia group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Body weight, body mass index, and waist circumference decreased in all the groups after the study. Moreover, leukocyte count was increased after the intervention in hypoxia compared to control group (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant variations within groups in other variables, although changes in appetite were found after the 13-week period. In addition, associations between the variations in the leukocyte count and fat mass have been found. The hypoxia group showed some specific benefits concerning appetite and cardiometabolic-related measurements as exertion time and diastolic blood pressure, with a therapeutical potential.

Living at Higher Altitude and Incidence of Overweight/Obesity: Prospective Analysis of the SUN Cohort

“…Furthermore, two other studies published contradictory results, while in the article from Kong et al [38], young overweight adults lose more weight training under normobaric hypoxia than in normoxia after 4 weeks in a residential camp; in the article from González-Muniesa et al [39], obese patients suffering sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome did not increase their weight loss due to a hypoxic environment. All these studies have been designed simulating altitude hypoxia with different equipment.…”

A case of remission from pre-diabetes following intermittent hypoxic training

“…Hypoxia is shown to increase resting metabolic rate, reduce food intake and potentially alter appetite hormone signalling [21]. These benefits in conjunction with those for the respiratory system (improved respiratory function and increase in lung diffusion capacity); cardiovascular system (increase in arteriole diameter and normalisation of blood pressure); and cellular and metabolic phenomena (increased activity of glycolytic enzymes, generation of new mitochondria and development of new blood vessels) [22] provide a better understanding of hypoxia as a therapeutic strategy for weight loss.…”

High-Intensity Interval Training in Normobaric Hypoxia Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Overweight Chinese Young Women

“…Our findings support the previous notion that hypoxia training may be an efficient strategy to tackle the health crisis of obesity and associated comorbidities (Urdampilleta et al, 2012; Kayser and Verges, 2013; Millet et al, 2016). However, the previous findings of intermittent hypoxic training-induced alterations in cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition, in spite of equivocal, were mainly resulted from moderate continuous training (Gatterer et al, 2015; Gonzalez-Muniesa et al, 2015). There is dearth of research investigating the effect of short-term, low-volume HIIT performed in hypoxia on cardiorespiratory and metabolic function in a sedentary population.…”