Caffeine Stimulates Ventilation on Athletes with Exercise-Induced Hypoxemia.

The article presents a study which aims to determine whether a moderate dosage of caffeine could augment resting ventilatory responsiveness, exercise ventilation (VE), end-tidal O2 partial pressure, and arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation (HbSaO2) in athletes with exercise-induced hypoxemia. The study assessed the ventilatory responsiveness at rest of via the isocapnic hypoxic response (HVR) and hyperoxic hypercapnic ventilatory response (HCVR). Results shows that the failure of HbSaO2 to increase at VO2max despite an increased VE suggests that the mechanisms influencing HbSaO2 other than an inadequate hyperventilatory response may operate to different degrees across individuals as VO2max is approached.