| Title | Short half-life hypnotics preserve physical fitness and altitude tolerance during military mountainous training. | | Author(s) | Jouanin JC, Dussault C, Van Beers P, Piérard C, Beaumont M | | Institution | Department of Aerospace Physiology, Institute of Aerospace Medicine of the Army Health Department, BP 73, 91223 Brétigny-sur-Orge Cedex, France. | | Source | Mil Med 2009 Sep; 174(9):964-70. | | Abstract | OBJECTIVE: We study the effect of short half-life hypnotics (zaleplon or zolpidem against placebo) on altitude tolerance in 12 nonacclimated male soldiers (age, 22.1 +/- 0.8 years; height, 177.8 +/- 1.7 cm; weight, 69.8 +/- 1.7 kg).
METHODS: Soldiers were trained to practice mountaineering at high altitude (2,533-4,810 meters) during 3 periods (one per medication tested) of 4 days (D1-D4). In each period the nights were spent in a hut (3,613 m). Administration of hypnotics or placebo was then implemented at 9:45 p.m. Nocturnal arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and heart rate variability (HRV) were monitored. At 5:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. physical fitness was assessed using acute mountain sickness (AMS) score. At 5:00 p.m., a posteffort stand test was carried out to evaluate the orthoparasympathetic imbalance with fatigue.
RESULTS: Nocturnal SaO2 correlated negatively with morning AMS scores (R = -0.820, p < 0.02) and HRV analysis favored the sympathetic modulation. Posteffort stand tests revealed that sympathetic modulation attenuated from D2 to D3 in treated groups.
CONCLUSION: The present study provides evidence that zolpidem or zaleplon improves sleep and subsequent physical fitness at altitude. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
| | PubMed ID | 19780373 |
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