[abstract] GLYCAEMIC PROFILE DURING REPETITIVE SCUBA DIVING IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hypoglycaemia appears to be a very rare occurrence while breathing 100percent O2 under hyperbaric conditions. To increase the understanding about mechanisms underlying those general metabolic responses that exercise in the aquatic environment is able to evocate, we collected glycemic values on healthy volunteers during some routine recreational dives under ordinary environmental conditions and at low risk of decompression profiles. In particular we tried to verify if immersions characteristics could somehow determine any glycaemia modificatioMATERIALS AND METHODS: We determined metabolic variables during open water scuba diving in a group of 18 healthy volunteers. They dove 4 times in 3 days in June: at 16-42 meters of water column and in 18-24 degC water. Each dive was analyzed separately, and four groups were obtained based on increasing dive loads. All dives were performed at safety profile and with same work load at depth as well. Glucomed S-glucose value measurement was performed one minute before the immersion and soon after the diver's surfacinRESULTS: We had to limit our result analysis only to three groups (immersion # 1,3,4). Summarizing we could observe the results in the tablINSERT TABLE FROM PICTUREThe air consumption shows obvious differences in subjects training to dive. We observed some increase in glycaemia values during the pre-immersion dressing phase. No hypoglycaemia occurrence was ever observed during our measurementsCONCLUSIONS: Variations in glycaemia values seem to be due to psychological aspects that can play a leading role in the determination of stress correlated with performance (1st dive) and some physiological ones that can be involved in glycemic changes measured in our last group (4th dive).