Abstract
Using indirect calorimetry, we examined 1632 young males aged 17 to 21 years, belonging to the Caucasian race and residing permanently in the city of Magadan. Depending on the duration of adaptation to the conditions of the Northeast of Russia, all male subjects were divided into 3 groups of first-, second-, and third-generation descendants and a group of newcoming migrants (adaptants), residing in the Magadan Region for a short period of time (zero generation). It was established that in the lineage from the zero to third generations there occur an optimization of the ventilatory parameters of the external respiration apparatus aimed at cutting respiratory heat losses during adaptation to extreme conditions of the Northeast, i.e. a decrease in the tidal volume, tidal minute volume, and respiratory rate. Relevant rearrangements of the respiratory pattern in subjects with a longer duration of residence under the same extreme conditions are paralleled by an improvement of oxygen transport and a more efficient use of each respiratory cycle.