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Citation
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Lee JY, Lee HH, Kim S, Jang YJ, Baek YJ, Kang KY. Ind. Health 2016; 54(2): 183-190. |
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Abstract
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[Haenyeo ( 해녀 -- sea women ) are female divers in the Korean province of Jeju. Their work practices have been known for many hundreds of years. Their harvests consist of abalone, conch, octopus, oysters, sea urchins, sea squirt, brown alga, etc.]
The purpose of the present field study was to explore diving patterns and heart rate of elderly Korean women divers (haenyeo) while breath-hold diving in cold seawater. We hypothesized that the decreasing rate in heart rate of elderly haenyeos during breath-hold diving was greater and total diving time was shorter than those of young haenyeos from previous studies. Nine haenyeos participated in a field study [68 ± 10 yr in age, ranged from 56 to 83 yr] at a seawater temperature of 10 to 13 °C. Average total diving time including surface swimming time between dives was 253 ± 73 min (155-341 min). Total frequency of dives was 97 ± 28 times and they dived 23 ± 8 times per hour. All haenyeos showed diving bradycardia with a decreased rate of 20 ± 8% at the bottom time (101 ± 20 bpm) when compared to surface swimming time (125 ± 16 bpm) in the sea. Older haenyeos among the nine elderly haenyeos had shorter diving time, less diving frequencies, and lower heart rate at work (p<0.05). These reductions imply that haenyeos voluntarily adjust their workload along with advancing age and diminished cardiovascular functions.
Language: en |