Riley, Heather L. (2012) Hypoxia adaptation and exercise performance at altitude. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Hypoxia is defined as a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the
tissues, and is a common problem in critically ill patients. It is not currently possible
to predict how well an individual will adapt to hypoxic conditions, and patients
presenting with hypoxia are often treated with supplemental oxygen. However, this
blanket-treatment approach is not suitable in all cases and a more personalised
approach is required.
My thesis project builds on information acquired during the Caudwell Xtreme
Everest (CXE 2007) expedition, where over 200 volunteers trekked to Everest Base
Camp. CXE uses studies on healthy volunteers exposed to extreme environments
to aid in the understanding of the complicated issues concerned with critical illness,
and aims to use these findings to improve the treatment of critically ill patients,
without putting them directly at risk.
My thesis project has combined physiological information acquired during
CXE with biochemical information measured in plasma samples taken during CXE.
Performance at altitude has been used as a proxy for hypoxia adaptation, with
individuals who show a small loss of performance at altitude compared to London
assumed to be adapting better compared to individuals who show a larger loss.
Analysis of the physiological and biochemical data for a core group of 24
individuals has culminated in the application of multiple linear regression to produce
a number of models capable of predicting the key changes in physiological response
as a function of a number of biochemical metabolites. These models have been used
to identify a set of biochemical metabolites to measure in a further 190 individuals,
to allow validation and training of the models on a larger sample size. These models
can then be adapted for use in a critical illness environment, to allow the prediction
of how well an individual will adapt to hypoxic conditions.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	Q Science > QP Physiology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Anoxemia, Adaptation (Physiology), Oxygen -- Physiological effect, Exercise -- Physiological aspects
Official Date:	December 2012
Dates:	Date Event December 2012 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Systems Biology Doctoral Training Centre
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Sponsors:	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) ; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Great Britain) (BBSRC)
Extent:	xix, 241 pages : illustrations, charts
Language:	eng

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