: Is Hypercapnia (high CO2 in the blood) Normal In Distance Runners? I have been running 20 miles a week (three hour long runs, monday, thursday, and saturday) for a long long time. Last year in my annual physical I had a venous

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

Can this also be genetic in some athletes, like when it runs in families and thus contributes to the persons athletic ability? I have always had excellent health and the contradiction of slightly higher co2. I have never smoked. When a youth I was extremely athletic in which any training I did I would quickly excel. I always noticed it was at a different rate than my peers because I wouldn't put in as much effort. It was always automatically assumed that I put in great effort though. I felt like a fraud because I did not try very hard. Being a female in a very traditional family I walked away from athletics so that I wouldn't be accused of not being "feminine" enough. I was very feminine, injust happened to inherit extreme athleticism and health. I regret when I was younger being embarrassed about it or worrying of being thought of as a brute. I really believe much of the ability, and lab results,were more genetic, and not so much from conditioning. To this day (and I am 42) I still get similar results in my lab tests as very fit athletes in training. Low heart rate, slightly higher co2 levels, low blood pressure and all other blood work in optimal range. As I do not train for sports at this time I am developing an opinion that some of these indicators (low blood pressure, low heart rate, slightly higher co2, etc.) maybe just genetically present in some people naturally, thus allowing them an athletic advantage when they do decide to train. IDK. Anyone else encounter this? I wonder if it may just be genetically normal in some people with an athletic disposition. Oh, and there are some extreme athletes peppered throughout my family and the extreme athleticism shows up in past generations. This is why I assume there is a genetic component to it, I am still open to explanations.

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

Your system might have "learned" to tolerate acutely high levels of CO2 during training, but it is not normal during rest. As your cardiovascular fitness increases, you become more efficient at using O2 and excreting CO2, and as such your ventilation rate falls to maintain a normal blood PH.

There are many reasons for an increased CO2, many of which should be examined.

A ventilation perfusion mismatch can be caused by bronchitis, asthma, pulmonary edema, hepatopulmonary syndrome. In case you are a smoker, it can be due do emphysema or COPD. Infections such as TB. Almost any pathological process in the lungs can increase the CO2.

I'm assuming your other values are fine since you did not mention them. That includes the blood PH. Your ventilation rate can decrease to compensate for a high PH caused by kidney problems; compensated metabolic alkalosis. This has many reasons, with the most frequent one being diabetic nephropathy in case you are diabetic. You can also have overtraining syndrome, which increases cortisol, which in term damages the kidneys, but that is hard to diagnose.

I would suggest you go to your doctor to check your kidney function (urinalysis and bloodwork), and pulmonary status (spirometry etc.). In case they turn up negative, try lowering the intensity of your workouts for some time to decrease cortisol levels. It is obviously a chronic change, so there is no need to worry about dropping dead at practice, however, I would recommend that you stop practicing until you know the etiology so as not to stress your body.