Hypoxicator
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Hypoxicator - a medical device intended to provide a stimulus for the adaptation of an individual's cardiovascular system by means of breathing reduced oxygen hypoxic air and triggering mechanisms of compensation. The aim of hypoxia training or hypoxic therapy conducted with such a device is to obtain benefits in physical performance and wellbeing through improved oxygen metabolism.
Advanced hypoxicators have a built-in pulse oximeter used to monitor and in some cases control the temporary reduction of arterial oxygen saturation that results in physiological responses evident at both systemic and cellular levels even after only a few minutes of hypoxia. [1]
The underlying mechanisms of adaptation to mild, non-damaging, short-term (minutes) hypoxic stress (also called - hypoxic training) are complex and Diverse [2] , but are part of normal physiology and are opposite to patho-physiological effects of severe sleep apnea hypoxia or anoxia.
There are a number of types of hypoxicators that can be distinguished by the method of producing hypoxic air and its delivery to the user's respiratory system. Commonly used are air separation systems employing semi-permeable membrane technology or pressure swing absorption or PSAS. There are also non-powered hand-held devices – rebreathers-hypoxicators.
The term hypoxicator was suggested by Russian scientists in 1985 to describe a new class of devices for Intermittent Hypoxic Therapy (IHT) - an emerging drug-free treatment for a wide range of degenerative disorders and for simulated altitude training used to achieve greater endurance performance [3] as well as offering preacclimatisation for mountaineers - minimising the risk of succumbing to {acute mountain sickness} on a subsequent ascent.
The hypoxia challenge of IHT is normally delivered in an intermittent manner: 3-7 min of hypoxic air breathing alternated with 1-5 min of normoxic or hyperoxic air.
The hypoxicator allows automated and pre-programmed delivery of the required hypoxic and hyperoxic or normoxic air and safety monitoring.
The therapeutic range of arterial oxygen desaturation for IHT is SpO2 = 75% - 88% and must be selected based upon the recommendation of a medical specialist.
There are no reported adverse effects associated with this kind of treatment.
However, symptoms of overtraining may appear as a result of abusing basic training protocols supplied by manufacturers. Products that do not offer effective and instant monitoring and control over the treatment sessions must be avoided. Pulse oximeters should be used to monitor the level of arterial oxygen saturation that is the basic measure of hypoxic training dosage. Good brands have pulse oximeters integrated into the system and the best hypoxicators are equipped with automated biofeedback hypoxic training control mechanisms.
[edit] References
- ^ Effects of simulated altitude (normobaric hypoxia) on cardiorespiratory parameters and circulating endothelial precursors in healthy subjects
- ^ |http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/full/231/4/343
- ^ Serebrovskaya TV. Intermittent hypoxia research in the former soviet union and the commonwealth of independent States: history and review of the concept and selected applications. High Alt Med Biol. 2002 Summer;3(2):205-21.
