Lung volume, chest size, and hematological variation in low-, medium-, and high-altitude central Asian populations.

To evaluate adaptive responses to high-altitude environment, we examined three groups of healthy adult males from Central Asia: 94 high-altitude (HA) Kirghiz subjects (3,200 m above sea level); 114 middle-altitude (MA) Kazakh subjects (2,100 m), and 90 low-altitude (LA) Kirghiz subjects (900 m). Data on chest size (chest perimeter and chest diameter), lung volume (forced expiratory volume (FEV) and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1)), and hematological parameters (hemoglobin, erythrocytes, hematocrit, and SaO(2)) are discussed. The results show that 1) chest shape is less flat in the samples living at higher altitude. In the HA sample, chest perimeter is lower but chest excursion is high. 2) In the highlanders, forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1 are no higher than in the other samples, even when corrected for stature and body weight. The negative correlation between FVC-FEV1 and age decreases with increasing altitude. 3) The HA and MA samples have higher values of hemoglobin, erythrocytes, and hematocrit. The HA sample has lower SaO(2) and higher arterial oxygen content than the LA sample. No association between hematocrit and age was detected in the four samples. The results indicate that the high-altitude Kirghiz present features of developmental acclimatization to hypobaric hypoxia which are also strongly influenced by other major high-altitude environmental stresses.

Body composition in Central Asia populations: Fat patterning variation in the Kazakhs of the Tien Shan mountains and the Uighurs of Semericia.

Eleven anthropometric variables related to fat patterning were analyzed in two populations of Central Asia, the Kazakhs of the Tien Shan mountains (2100 m) and the Uighurs of the Semericia plains. Subjects were healthy unrelated males, 122 Kazakhs and 79 Uighurs, 19-65 years. Comparisons were done with a preliminary analysis of variance and then by covariance analysis, taking into account the influence of age. The Uighurs, independently of age, show higher values than Kazakhs for all of the characteristics related to fat patterning, but principal components analysis suggests a similar somatic structure in the two samples. The presence of lower adiposity in the Kazakhs than in the Uighurs could be related to stress, probably associated with nutrition and lifestyle in a mountain environment. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:241-247, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

[Kidney lesion in acute suppurative septic diseases in children]. / Porazhenie pochek pri ostrykh gnoino-septicheskikh zabolevaniiakh u detei.

The examination of 122 children aged 2 to 14 with osteomyelitis, peritonitis and staphylococcal destruction of the lungs was performed. The first symptoms in developing pyelonephritis made their appearance in children following a purulent infection. So, the children after acute purulent process must be regularly examined in the outpatient clinics in order to prevent the development of chronic renal insufficiency.