Cyclic Hypobaric Hypoxia Improves Markers of Glucose Metabolism in Middle-Aged Men

Abstract Marquez, Juan L., Scott Rubinstein, Jill A. Fattor, Omer Shah, Andrew R. Hoffman, and Anne L. Friedlander. Cyclic hypobaric hypoxia improves markers of glucose metabolism in middle-aged men. High Alt Med Biol 14:263—272, 2013.—Chronic hypoxia increases dependence on glucose in men and increases insulin sensitivity in men and women. Cyclic Variations in Altitude Conditioning (CVAC) is a novel technology that provides exposure to rapidly fluctuating cyclic hypobaric hypoxia (CHH). Purpose: To test the hypothesis that markers of glucose metabolism would change with CVAC CHH, two groups of middle-aged men were exposed to 10 weeks (40 min/day, 3 day/week) of either CHH or sham (SH) sessions. Methods: CHH subjects (age: 48±6, weight: 86±12 kg, BMI: 27.1±3, n=11) experienced cyclic pressures simulating altitudes ranging from sea level to 3048 m (week 1) and progressing to 6096 m (by week 5 through week 10). SH subjects (age: 50±4, weight: 89±15 kg, BMI: 27.5±3, n=10) were exposed to slowly-fluctuating p...