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Breathing He-O2 increases ventilation but does not decrease the work of breathing during exercise.

T G Babb1

  • 1Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. tonybabb@TexasHealth.org

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
|April 24, 2001
PubMed
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Breathing helium-oxygen (He-O2) increased minute ventilation (VE) in elderly individuals with mild airflow limitation during exercise. This suggests airway resistive unloading enhances ventilation in this population.

Area of Science:

  • Pulmonary Physiology
  • Respiratory Mechanics
  • Exercise Physiology

Background:

  • Previous studies showed increased minute ventilation (VE) with resistive unloading (He-O2 breathing) in healthy elderly subjects.
  • Elderly individuals with mild chronic airflow limitation (CAL) may respond differently to resistive loading during exercise.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of resistive unloading using He-O2 breathing on ventilation in elderly subjects with mild CAL.
  • To determine if He-O2 breathing alters pulmonary mechanics and end-tidal CO2 (PETCO2) during graded exercise in this population.

Main Methods:

  • Ten elderly subjects (70 ± 3 years) with mild CAL (FEV1/FVC: 61 ± 4%) performed graded cycle ergometry.
  • Subjects completed tests breathing room air and a He-O2 gas mixture (79% He, 21% O2).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Minute ventilation (VE), pulmonary mechanics, and PETCO2 were measured at rest, ventilatory threshold (VTh), and maximal exercise.

    • Main Results:

    • Breathing He-O2 significantly increased VE at VTh (12 ± 15%) and maximal exercise (22 ± 13%) compared to room air (p < 0.05).
    • PETCO2 decreased significantly at all exercise levels during He-O2 breathing (p < 0.01).
    • Total work of breathing against the lung remained unchanged between conditions.

    Conclusions:

    • Resistive unloading via He-O2 breathing increases minute ventilation in elderly individuals with mild chronic airflow limitation during exercise.
    • The observed increase in VE is attributed to airway resistive unloading, maintaining the relationship between breathing work and exercise intensity.