Intermittent hypoxia increases blood flow and benefits executive function

(onlinelibrary.wiley.com)

20 points | by PaulHoule 3 hours ago ago

22 comments

  • evanjrowley an hour ago

    But depending on how it's done, may possibly damage your vision: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245199361...

  • tapoxi an hour ago

    Finally, an upside to sleep apnea

    • ang_cire 22 minutes ago

      Came to say this. If one day I don't wake up, at least everyone will know my brain was lit beforehand!

    • samus an hour ago

      There is overall no health benefit since the hypoxic phase is quite long and creates stress during a time when the body is supposed to rest and recover. And that compounds with the underlying issue, usually mouth breathing, bad pillow, bad sleeping position, or a combination of these.

    • evanjrowley an hour ago

      Maybe this is the link between sleep apnea and hypertension.

  • hackingonempty 15 minutes ago

    > Healthy young adults (N = 24)

  • joecool1029 an hour ago

    I am wondering if this related to hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) activation.

    Seem to recall the nootropic Noopept allegedly acts as an activator for HIF-1. Maybe there are others. Could possibly be a therapeutic target, maybe not. This is not my area of study, I'm just reiterating some of what I've read in the past.

  • jrootabega 42 minutes ago

    I'm not knowledgeable enough to confidently verify this from the linked material, but aren't they keeping CO2 levels the same during the hypoxic periods? i.e. isn't this significantly different than just holding your breath/being choked/sleep apnea?

  • 1970-01-01 an hour ago

    Makes me wonder if professional divers are statistically more intelligent than average, as they will experience hypoxia as part of the job.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_diving

    • ceejayoz an hour ago

      They shouldn't experience hypoxia. That's what the air supply is for.

      • 1970-01-01 43 minutes ago
        • PaulHoule 33 minutes ago

          I never got "deep" into it but everybody told me that breath holding diving can be really dangerous.

          I know part of the SCUBA story is that phenomena like nitrogen narcosis are particularly dangerous because you need your cognitive capacity to survive in the underwater environment.

          In the surface world I can go to a party and drink eight beers and maybe throw up and act like a dumbass and embarrass myself and then wake up with a headache the next morning. That level of incapacitation under water would likely be fatal.

          • ceejayoz 31 minutes ago

            Yeah, when I learned scuba, I was told the rule with freediving is your buddy stays on the surface while you dive; that way they can rescue you if you can pass out.

        • ceejayoz 34 minutes ago

          Barring really traditional (and now very rare) pearl/scallop divers, professional divers aren't doing it by holding their breath.

    • ed 36 minutes ago

      s/professional divers/free-divers/

  • deadfece an hour ago

    Seems like that was what they set out to prove.

    Hopefully some of that can be reproduced in further studies.

  • PaulHoule an hour ago

    ... note that the article linked from this discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46168057 mentions intermittent hypoxia as a rapid acting treatment for depression right up there with Ketamine and ECT

  • ThrowawayTestr 2 hours ago

    So those breath holding contests we had at school were making us smarter?

    • eastbound an hour ago

      In aggregate yes. When the most stupid die, the average IQ increases.

      I’m joking, by the way. The more risk-taking people might be the ones who push civilization forward. Starting with Churchill…

  • ajuc an hour ago

    Asthma counts?

  • elif an hour ago

    Another confirmation for wim hof breathing

    • samus 29 minutes ago

      Rather of its opposite (but similar): Buteyko breathing, which puts emphasis on building up CO2 tolerance and adopting more gentle, relaxed breathing patterns by inducing carefully controlled hypoxia. But I have to admit, I know only very superficially what the Wim Hof method is.