Developmental components of resting ventilation among high- and low-altitude Andean children and adults

This paper evaluates the age-associated changes of resting ventilation of 1 15 high- and low-altitude Aymara subjects, of whom 61 were from the rural A ymara village of Ventilla situated at an average altitude of 4,200 m and 54 from the rural village of Caranavi situated at an average altitude of 900 m. Comparison of the age patterns of resting ventilation suggests the follo wing conclusions: 1) the resting ventilation (ml/kg/min) of high-altitude n atives is markedly higher than that of low-altitude natives; 2) the age dec line of ventilation is similar in both lowlanders and highlanders, but the starting point and therefore the age decline are much higher at high altitu de; 3) the resting ventilation that characterizes high-altitude Andean nati ves is developmentally expressed in the same manner as it is at low altitud e; and 4) the resting ventilation (ml/kg/min) of Aymara high-altitude nativ es is between 40-80% lower than that of Tibetans. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.