Oxygen Supply System Management in an Overweight Adult after 12 Months in Antarctica—Study Case

Abstract

The aim of the study was to try to determine the functional state of the respiratory system, i.e., selected parameters and indicators of physiological systems responsible for the supply of oxygen at all stages of its delivery in people as their body weight increases from normal weight to overweight. The studies include an analysis of test results of functional respiratory system state (FSD) indicators of a 30-year-old and 170-cm tall man. Measurements of FSD were conducted two times: the first time before an expedition to Antarctica at 70 kg (normal body weight); the next measurements were taken a year later, after coming back from the expedition, at 82 kg (overweight). When analyzing the functional respiratory system state in terms of the effect of overweight it was found that the maintenance of the oxygen homeostasis in those conditions occurred at the level of a compensated hypoxic state. That is why the decision to engage in physical activity can be made only if we are sure that significant destructive additive effects of both types of hypoxic influences (from excessive body weight and from the physical activity) are not overlapping.