Researchers say that the effect of high altitudes on people's breathing and its coordination with the heartbeat is due to genetic differences.Clear physiological differences have already been demonstrated between people living in the Himalayas and Andes compared with people living at sea level, revealing an evolutionary adaptation in the control of blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain and the rest of the body.Now an international team led by Professor Aneta Stefanovska of Lancaster University has identified genes that are related to cardiorespiratory function during so-called acute periodic breathing. Their report is published in the Journal of Physiology.Periodic breathing (PB) occurs in most humans at high altitudes and is characterised by periodic alternations between hyperventilation (too-fast breathing) and apnoea (no breathing). The altered respiratory pattern due to PB is accompanied by changes in heart rate and blood flow.Breathing, ECG of the heart and microvascular ...
