title: Spirometry Changes in Cold Climatic Conditions of Antarctica.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary function is one of the important physiological measures that is known to be affected during the changes in the altitude. There is dearth of literature on changes in the pulmonary function variables in the cold climate conditions of Antarctica. We carried out spirometry before, during and after one year stay at Antarctica in members of the Indian expedition.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spirometry was carried out on 23 members of the XXVI Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica at baseline, after six months of expedition and at the end of one year, using standard guidelines. The tests were carried out indoor in temperature controlled laboratory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pulmonary function test parameters did not vary across the period. Although, both forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1) showed a decreasing trend but did not attain any statistical significance. However, peak expiratory flow (PEFR) rate was reduced significantly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study did not show consistently significant change in the pulmonary function parameters in the members of the Indian Antarctic expedition.
authors.forename: Iyamanda B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Udaya
authors.forename: Chettangada C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Laxmi
authors.forename: Hulegar A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Abhishekh
authors.forename: Trichur R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Raju
authors.forename: Talakad N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Sathyaprabha
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D003080:Cold Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019550:Environmental Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000379:methods*