Healthy volunteers breathe thin air for science
NCT ID NCT02860975
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looked at how healthy adults respond to breathing air with less oxygen for up to 7 days. Researchers measured oxygen levels in the blood, red blood cell production, and lung pressure to understand the body's adjustments. The goal was to define safety and basic responses, not to treat any disease.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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5 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jan 2017
- Finished
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Apr 2019
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 40 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion criteria * Have a photo identification (ID) * Male or female individuals age between 18 and 40 years old * BMI between 19 and 24.9 kg/m2 * Having capacity to consent to the study Exclusion criteria * Evidence of any physical, mental, and/or medical conditions that would make the proposed studies relatively more hazardous * Prior high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) diagnosis * Born at altitudes greater than 2,100 m (\~7,000 ft) * Systemic disease with or without any functional limitation; including * controlled hypertension * controlled diabetes without systemic effects * Pregnancy determined by urine pregnancy test, detecting presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), or less than six weeks postpartum * Women who are not willing to receive urine pregnancy tests * Active smoking. Volunteers may be enrolled if they quit smoking for more than 1 year. * Excess alcohol use: more than ½ L/day of wine consumption or equivalent * Any current medication use except oral contraceptives. * Living in areas that are more than 1,200 m (\~4,000 feet), or have traveled to areas that are more than 1,200 m for more than four days within the last 2 months * Tobacco chewers * Abnormal hemoglobin or hematocrit levels or presence of hemoglobin S * Evidence of apnea or other sleeping disorders * Evidence of asthma * Lower respiratory infection within the last 30 days * If applicable, unwilling to refrain from using energy drinks or other caffeinated beverages for 7 days prior to and during the study * If applicable, unwilling to refrain from use of all over-the-counter oral medications, herbal remedies, and nutritional supplements for 7 days prior to and during the study * Not willing to have blood drawn from an arm vein each test day of the study * Claustrophobia (inability to wear a facemask) or other active psychiatric conditions or not willingness to cooperate with the investigators and the other medical team * Currently enrolled in another research study * Facial abnormalities that would preclude proper use of a face mask Pregnancy Prevention/Testing: Women using oral, subdermal or injectable contraceptives, and those using other means of birth control may participate. A urine pregnancy test will be conducted as part of the screening process for study participation no more than 7 days before starting the study. The test result will be read by a female staff member who will keep the result confidential. If a woman declines to have a pregnancy test, she will not be able to participate.
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Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, 02134, United States
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