According to a study by the project Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN), living at an altitude between 457 and 2,297 meters, compared to living at sea level between 0 and 121 meters, is associated with a lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

This condition encompasses a set of cardiovascular risk factors that increase the probability of developing heart disease, suffering a stroke, diabetes mellitus subject 2, kidney disease or circulatory problems. "Metabolic syndrome is a prevalent ailment that is increasing in developed countries, hence the value of a study that sheds light on a determining factor in its incidence, such as the altitude at which one lives," says researcher Amaya López-Pascual, author of this study as part of her doctoral thesis , the results of which have just been published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.

So far, it was known that obesity, smoking and an inactive lifestyle all increased the risk of metabolic syndrome, but the role of the environment in its incidence was not well understood. "Some previous programs of study did suggest that people living at high altitudes forced their bodies to work harder to obtain oxygen, which seemed to offer them some protection against problems related to metabolic syndrome," says the doctoral student.

One of the particularities of this work is that the 6,860 volunteers who have contributed their data are university graduates. For this reason, the researchers at project SUN consider that these results, obtained from people with a higher cultural level than average and also a healthier lifestyle, should only be extrapolated to people with this same profile.

Altitude also financial aid to lose weight

The group of research - member of the CIBERobn Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, of the high school Carlos III - is also studying the health benefit of hypoxia: "We are analyzing the benefits of living in an environment with less oxygen available, as happens when we increase altitude, from the molecular, clinical and epidemiological point of view, as we consider it to be a very promising area . In fact, there are numerous programs of study confirming that both living and exercising at high altitude, in status of hypoxia, help to lose weight, improve insulin resistance and cardiopulmonary status", stresses Professor González Muniesa, researcher of research center in Nutrition at the University of Navarra and co-author of the study.

Also, in this project the family history of the participants was analyzed, which allowed the researchers to confirm that the results were independent of the genetic background of the volunteers. "However, it is necessary to fill in this study with other analyses that add different altitudes, population groups, add other clinical data , new environmental criteria -such as humidity, temperature, climate or pollution-, etc., so that we can know from what altitude this factor brings health benefits", culminates the Full Professor of Nutrition Alfredo Martinez, also co-author of the study.