Journal of Wilderness Medicine
Volume 5, Issue 4 , Pages 399-404, December 1994

Ambulatory sleep–wake recording in an acclimatized mountaineer over 8 days at high altitude

  • Alain Buguet, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Unité déphysiologie de la vigilance, Centre de recherches du service de santé des armiés “Emile Pardé”, La Tronche, France
    • Corresponding Author InformationTo whom all correspondence should be addressed.
    • ,
  • Annie Pivot, MD

      Affiliations

    • Service d’anesthésie-réanimation, Hôpital d’Albertville, Albertville, France
    • ,
  • Alain Montmayeur, MD

      Affiliations

    • Unité déphysiologie de la vigilance, Centre de recherches du service de santé des armiés “Emile Pardé”, La Tronche, France
    • ,
  • Philippe Tapie, MD

      Affiliations

    • Institut de neurologie tropicale, Faculté de médecine, Limoges, France

Article Outline

Continuous ambulatory polygraphy (electroencephalogram and electrooculogram) was recorded on a 34-year-old female mountaineer acclimatized to an altitude of 5350 m, using a portable Oxford Medilog 9000 cassette recorder over 8 consecutive days. The recordings at altitudes of 5000 to 7600 m were performed while attempting to climb Mount Everest without an oxygen mask. The subject slept only at night. Altitude sleep measures were compared to data obtained at 300 m altitude during one 24-h recording performed before the expedition departed. The sleep–wake organization was barely influenced by altitude. Intrasleep wakefulness was augmented, leading to a decrease in sleep efficiency. No slow-wave-sleep curtailment was found, and day-to-day sleep–wake variations were more likely due to anxiety, fatigue owing to strenuous effort, nighttime cold, or daytime heat exposure.

Key words: altitude, sleep, stress

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PII: S0953-9859(94)71140-2

doi:10.1580/0953-9859-5.4.399

Journal of Wilderness Medicine
Volume 5, Issue 4 , Pages 399-404, December 1994

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