ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on the mechanisms of ventilatory responses to hypoxia from the initial responses of the first seconds to minutes of hypoxic exposure up to many years of residence in hypoxic environments. We will discuss how breathing may influence performance at extreme altitude (see also Chapter 20). Space requires that our approach be a selective one. We will not discuss ventilatory responses to hypoxia comprehensively and/or historically, as a number of excellent reviews of this topic are available (1-6). Rather, we will attempt to highlight what we believe are new, unresolved, or controversial questions in this area that would benefit from further research. We will only touch upon control of breathing during sleep at altitude and genetic/evolutionary considerations of ventilatory control in ethnic groups that have been resident at high altitudes for centuries, as these topics are discussed in Chapters 3 and 21.
