Sherpas more efficient at getting energy from glucose

[NelliePledge]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40006803

Picked up from the BBC website not sure if it is of interest

 

[RogerBlack]

Maybe better titled as 'Prefer fat over glucose as fuel in low oxygen conditions'.
You get more work done per unit of oxygen if you preferably use the bodies stores of glycogen, not fat as an energy source.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/16/1700527114
Metabolic basis to Sherpa altitude adaptation

A relative fall in tissue oxygen levels (hypoxia) is a common feature of many human diseases, including heart failure, lung diseases, anemia, and many cancers, and can compromise normal cellular function. Hypoxia also occurs in healthy humans at high altitude due to low barometric pressures. Human populations resident at high altitude in the Himalayas have evolved mechanisms that allow them to survive and perform, including adaptations that preserve oxygen delivery to the tissues. Here, we studied one such population, the Sherpas, and found metabolic adaptations, underpinned by genetic differences, that allow their tissues to use oxygen more efficiently, thereby conserving muscle energy levels at high altitude, and possibly contributing to the superior performance of elite climbing Sherpas at extreme altitudes.

Fluge et al found of ME/CFS

Among the PPAR transcription factors, PPARδ (PPARD) was upregulated in PBMCs of ME/CFS patients (P = 0.001) (Figure 3F). There were no differences for PPARα (PPARA)

 

[AdamS]

Interesting.

...Ponders about whether buying an altitude mask would have any benefit

...then thinks it would probably make me feel horrendous

 

[RogerBlack]

Interesting.

...Ponders about whether buying an altitude mask would have any benefit

...then thinks it would probably make me feel horrendous

Only if you have the mutation common in Sherpas.

Now I'm wondering on CFS incidence in Sherpas.