RESPONSE TO CONTROLLED HYPOXIA IN WOMEN EXPERIENCING WAR-RELATED CHRONIC STRESS

Abstract

Military stress has a traumatic effect on mental and physical health, and disrupts the adaptive capabilities of the body, in particular, its ability to adequately respond to hypoxia. However, the specifics of the reaction of the cardiorespiratory system to dosed hypoxia in individuals who experiencing warrelated chronic stress (WRCS) have not yet been elucidated. The peculiarities of the reaction of the cardiorespiratory system to dosed hypoxia in women experiencing WRCS were clarified. It was shown that during breathing of atmospheric air, the blood saturation level, lung ventilation indicators, and hemodynamics did not differ significantly between women exposed to WRCS and those not exposed to it. However, during a controlled hypoxic test (breathing a gas mixture with 12% oxygen for 20 min), women experiencing WRCS experienced a more significant decrease in blood saturation, indicating a lower tolerance to hypoxia. This is also evidenced by a reduced lung ventilation response to controlled hypoxia in the WRCS group, where the increase in ventilation primarily occurred due to an elevation in breathing rate rather than tidal volume. At the same time, the hemodynamic response to hypoxia in women with WRCS was characterized by a more substantial increase in heart rate and systolic arterial pressure. Thus, it was established that in women who were in the state of HCV, the body’s resistance to the effects of hypoxia decreases. At the same time, in conditions of hypoxia, the nature of their breathing changes, and the compensatory growth of pulmonary ventilation decreases, but the growth of hemodynamic indicators increases.