Human physiological responses to high-altitude hypobaric hypoxia may serve as a model to understand cellular hypoxia, inflammation, and metabolic adaptation in critically ill patients.
Cellular hypoxia is a fundamental mechanism of injury in the critically ill. The study of human responses to hypoxia occurring as a consequence of hypobaria defines the fields of high-altitude medicine and physiology. A new paradigm suggests that the physiological and pathophysiological responses to extreme environmental challenges (for example, hypobaric hypoxia, hyperbaria, microgravity, cold, heat) may be similar to responses seen in critical illness. The present review explores the idea that human responses to the hypoxia of high altitude may be used as a means of exploring elements of the pathophysiology of critical illness.
Grocott et al. (2007) conducted a review in Critical illness and high-altitude hypoxia. High-altitude hypoxia was evaluated. Human physiological responses to high-altitude hypobaric hypoxia may serve as a model to understand cellular hypoxia, inflammation, and metabolic adaptation in critically ill patients.