Effect of Commercial Airline Travel on Oxygen Saturation in Athletes

Research image

A prospective cross-sectional study. National-level athletes were recruited. Oxygen saturation and heart rate were measured with a pulse oximeter at sea level before departure, at 3 and 7 hours into the flight, and again after arrival at sea level. Aircraft cabin pressure and altitude, cabin fraction of inspired oxygen and true altitude were also recorded.

45 athletes and 18 healthy staff aged between 17 and 70 years were studied on 10 long-haul flights. Oxygen saturation levels declined significantly after 3 hours and 7 hours (3–4%), compared with sea level values. There was an associated drop in cabin pressure and fraction of inspired oxygen, and an increase in cabin altitude.

Testimonials

"...Insufficient oxygen means insufficient biological energy that can result in anything from mild fatigue to life threatening disease.The link between insufficient oxygen and disease has now been firmly established. The more oxygen we have in our system, the more energy we produce."

Dr. W. Spencer Way Journal of the American Association of Physicians

"Many of my COPD, asthma and anxiety patients have reported how breathing Boost Oxygen opened up their lungs and helped clear excess mucus and ease tightness in their chest."

Mariana Arando Co-founder of Touch Tuina Treatment Centre

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. These will be set only if you accept.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page. Cookie Control Link Icon


Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.