The Effects of Acetazolamide on Exercise Performance at Sea Level and in Hypoxic Environments: A Review.

Lowlanders rapidly ascending to high altitude (>2500 m) often develop acute mountain sickness (AMS). While acclimatization is the most effective method of reducing symptoms of AMS (ie, headache, fatigue, nausea, gastrointestinal distress, etc.), it may take several days to become fully acclimated.

Sympathetic neural and hemodynamic responses to head-up tilt during isoosmotic and hyperosmotic hypovolemia.

We hypothesized that muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during head-up tilt (HUT) would be augmented during exercise-induced (hyperosmotic) dehydration but not isoosmotic dehydration via an oral diuretic. We studied 26 young healthy subjects (7 female, 19 male) divided into three groups: euhydrated (EUH, = 7), previously exercised in 40°C while maintaining hydration; dehydrated (DEH, = 10), previously exercised in 40°C during which ~3% of body weight was lost via sweat loss; and diuretic (DIUR, = 9), a group that did not exercise but lost ~3% of body weight via diuresis (furosemide, 80 mg by mouth). We measured MSNA, heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP) during supine rest and 30° and 45° HUT.

Is normobaric hypoxia an effective treatment for sustaining previously acquired altitude acclimatization?

This study examined whether normobaric hypoxia (NH) treatment is more efficacious for sustaining high-altitude (HA) acclimatization-induced improvements in ventilatory and hematologic responses, acute mountain sickness (AMS), and cognitive function during reintroduction to altitude (RA) than no treatment at all. Seventeen sea-level (SL) residents (age = 23 ± 6 yr; means ± SE) completed in the following order: ) 4 days of SL testing; ) 12 days of HA acclimatization at 4,300 m; ) 12 days at SL post-HA acclimatization (Post) where each received either NH ( = 9, [Formula: see text] = 0.122) or Sham ( = 8; [Formula: see text] = 0.