title: Body composition & cardiovascular functions in healthy males acclimatized to desert & high altitude.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several physiological changes affecting physical fitness occur in humans whenever they are exposed to extremes of environments such as heat, cold and high altitude (HA). The present study was undertaken to evaluate effect of stay in desert and HA on physical fitness and body composition of physically active individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study was conducted on three groups of male soldiers (n=30 in each group) at different climatic conditions i.e., temperate (plains of north India), hot desert (Rajasthan), and HA (3600 m) in Western Himalayas. Subjects were acclimatized to hot and HA environments and had similar BMI (body mass index). Body fat, lean body mass, haemoglobin levels were determined along with, blood pressure and physical fitness index (PFI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The body fat of subjects at temperate, desert and HA was found to be 15.4, 12.8 and 16.9 per cent respectively. The resting heart rate and blood pressure were higher in altitude group in comparison to others. PFI score of volunteers at temperate, desert and HA were found to be 97.4 +/- 10.3, 92.4+/- 14.4 and 83.8 +/- 6.2 respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A combination of different factors i.e., higher resting pulse rate, increased blood pressure and body fat may be responsible for lower PFI at HA. The observed differences in body fat content of different groups could be an adaptive feature to the environment.
authors.affiliation: Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vats
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kishnani
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Pramanik
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Shashi Bala
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Banerjee
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins