Is Cardiovascular Health Affected by Exercise Type and Impact?

The principal aim of this study was to determine whether cardiovascular health, assessed by resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure and resting heart rate, was affected by exercise type (golf vs. tennis) and associated impact (low vs. high). Male and female golfers (n = 40) and tennis players (n = 40) aged between 40 and 71 years completed a short questionnaire relating to their main sport and typical exercise habits. Resting blood pressure and heart rate readings were then taken using an electronic wrist sphygmomanometer. The analysis of variance (General Linear Model) showed that overall there were no significant differences in either the resting systolic or diastolic blood pressure, or resting heart rate, of golfers and tennis players. However, a significant increase in systolic blood pressure with age (F = 10.48, p = 0.002) was observed in golfers, compared with no significant age-related increases in blood pressure in tennis players. In conclusion, exercise type and impact appear to have no effect on cardiovascular health in the 40 to 71 year olds age group, but high impact exercise may have a protective effect against age-related increases in blood pressure which requires further investigation

Cardiac remodeling according to the nocturnal fall of blood pressure in hypertensive subjects: The whole assessment of cardiac abnormalities in non-dipper subjects with arterial hypertension (wacanda) study

Objective: Several epidemiological studies suggest that the preservation of the physiological circadian rhythm of blood pressure or its disruption affects the extent of the organ damage developed by the patient. If we classify the circadian rhythm of blood pressure into four nocturnal profiles, significant differences emerge in terms of organ damage burden and prognosis: reverse dippers have the worst prognosis while dippers and mild dippers fall into an intermediate risk range. The risk profile of extreme dippers is still debated, and the available data are very conflicting and inconclusive. Starting from this gap of knowledge, we aimed to evaluate, retrospectively, in a cohort of hypertensive subjects, the degree of cardiac involvement in relation to the different nocturnal blood pressure profiles. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 900 patients with essential hypertension, of whom 510 met our study criteria. We graded the 510 patients in relation to the percentage of reduction in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) at night-time compared with day-time, considering this as a continuous variable, and then compared the extreme quintiles with each other and with the middle quintile (considered as reference). Results: Patients with less (or no) reduction in nocturnal SBP (reverse dipper) showed a higher level of organ damage and comorbidities. With regard to echocardiographic indexes, patients with maximum nocturnal pressure reduction (extreme dipper) showed a lower level of remodeling and/or impairment of E/e’ ratio, Right Atrium Area, Basal Right Ventricular Diameter, Inferior Vena Cava Average Diameter, and Tricuspidal Anular Plane Systolic Excursion compared also with hypertensive patients with a physiological nocturnal pressure reduction, even after correction for the main confounders. Conclusions: These data suggest that extreme dippers may constitute the subgroup of hypertensive patients with the lowest 24-h pressure load and, therefore, less cardiac remodeling

Effects of sleep deprivation on autonomic nervous system

Sleep deprivation (SD) has been thought a potential factor to trigger cardiovascular events by increasing the sympathetic nervous system activity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between sleep deprivation and the autonomic nervous system activity by means of heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure variability (BPV). All data were acquired in the sleep lab of Columbia University. Data were acquired from the two groups, SD and control. Subjects in the SD group did not sleep for thirty-six hours but subjects in the control group slept at night as usual. There were five different data acquisition stages; baseline (stage 0 and stage 1), twelve hours of sleep deprivation (stage 2), twenty-four hours of sleep deprivation (stage 3) and thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation (stage 4). ECG and blood pressure were measured for one hour in each stage. Data were acquired in the supine and sitting positions and volunteers were then asked to use a computer to study the SD effects on cognitive performance. Sleep deprivation produces negative effects on cognitive performance. Cognitive performance deficits involved reduced ability to pay attention and impairment of the ability to think quickly and not make mistakes. In this study, we tested whether the negative effects reflect on the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The low frequency (LF) area and the high frequency (HF) area were calculated using the Power Spectrum Analysis of HRV and BPV. The LF area of HRV is associated with the sympathetic nervous system activity plus the parasympathetic nervous system activity but the HF area of HRV is associated with only the parasympathetic nervous system activity. The LF area of BPV is believed to be related purely only to the sympathetic nervous system activity, rather than to a mixture of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activities. In this study, the LF and HF areas were timenormalized and the normalized LF and HF areas were averaged for a mean value analysis. In addition to the mean value analysis, One Factor ANOVA and Two-Factor ANOVA were conducted for the significance comparison tests. In One Factor ANOVA and the mean value analysis, after thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation, the LF area of HRV increased significantly in the sitting position and when subjects began the cognitive task. No significant increase in the LF area was observed in the supine position and after ten minutes of the cognitive task. The significantly increased LF area could reflect an increased stress level and acts as a predictor of cardiovascular events. Sleep deprivation can cause negative effects on cognitive performance especially at the beginning state of the cognitive task. The LF area of BPV did not change significantly in the supine and sitting positions during thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation. After thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation, the LF area of BPV increased significantly when people began the cognitive task as did the LF area of HRV. Significant changes were observed after thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation in One Factor ANOVA but a significant change was observed after twelve hours of SD in Two-Factor ANOVA. Although there was a significant change in the LF area, no significant HF change was observed in the control and SD groups. The negative effect of sleep deprivation reflects on the autonomic nervous system. Sleep deprivation did not affect the HF area significantly but significant LF area changes occurred due to sleep deprivation. HRV responses to SD were different according to positions. Subjects experienced more negative effects in the sitting position then in the supine position. The LF area of HRV and BPV increased significantly at the beginning state of the cognitive task after thirty-six hours. Sleep deprivation may induce the LF area to increase and people can experience a mental stress and cognitive performance deficit at the beginning of cognitive performance

Blood pressure determinants. Part I: Structure — function links in blood pressure regulation. Reliability of blood pressure measurement

W niniejszym opracowaniu podjęliśmy próbę systematycznego wyszczególnienia, podstawowych czynników determinujących ciśnienie tętnicze: uwarunkowań morfologicznych, czynników fizycznych oraz zależności regulacyjnych. Dynamiczny charakter ciśnienia tętniczego skonfrontowano z koncepcją o dominującym wpływie zaspokojenia potrzeb metabolicznych tkanek obwodowych na regulację ciśnienia tętniczego. Praca została podzielona na trzy części. W pierwszej, aktualnie prezentowanej, przypomniano metody pomiaru ciśnienia tętniczego i najczęstsze błędy pomiarowe oraz omówiono istotne w regulacji ciśnienia tętniczego związki strukturalno-czynnościowe.The major structural, physical, and regulatory determinants of blood pressure are systematically reviewed. A dynamic nature of blood pressure is coupled with the idea that the regulation of blood pressure is primarily to meet metabolic needs of peripheral tissues. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first one, the basic methods of blood pressure measurement and the most common mistakes in its assessment are recalled. Links between morphological structure and function of essential impact on blood pressure regulation are discussed

The effects of isometric exercise training on resting blood pressure with specific reference to selected cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and metabolic variables

There were two purposes to the work of this thesis (a) to identify the role of isometric training intensity in the training-induced reductions in resting blood pressure, and (b) to identify whether the mechanism for the reduced resting blood pressure is best reflected in what can be broadly termed cardiovascular, neuromuscular or metabolic markers of that training. Firstly, in a cross-sectional study, the only strong correlation was found between heart rate variability (a cardiovascular marker) and resting blood pressure. Secondly, this cardiovascular marker was also significantly affected by a single session of isometric exercise, an effect that persisted for at least 4 hours after exercise. However, thirdly, this marker and other cardiovascular markers (such as cardiac output and stroke volume) did not correlate with reductions in blood pressure seen after 4 weeks of isometric training. Instead, the training-induced reductions in blood pressure correlated strongly with neuromuscular and metabolic markers of isometric training. The extent to which local muscle fatigue was induced during isometric training correlated with the reductions in resting blood pressure. Therefore (a) isometric training intensity appears to be of utmost importance in the reductions in resting blood pressure (when bilateral-leg exercise is performed in 2 minute bouts), and (b) the mechanism whereby the adaptations in resting blood pressure occur is best reflected in neuromuscular and metabolic markers of local muscle fatigue during that training. These findings are discussed with a particular focus on the possible role of muscle metaboreceptor stimulation, during isometric training in the mechanism of training-induced reduction in resting blood pressure

The effects of isometric exercise training on resting blood pressure with specific reference to selected cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and metabolic variables

There were two purposes to the work of this thesis (a) to identify the role of isometric training intensity in the training-induced reductions in resting blood pressure, and (b) to identify whether the mechanism for the reduced resting blood pressure is best reflected in what can be broadly termed cardiovascular, neuromuscular or metabolic markers of that training. Firstly, in a cross-sectional study, the only strong correlation was found between heart rate variability (a cardiovascular marker) and resting blood pressure. Secondly, this cardiovascular marker was also significantly affected by a single session of isometric exercise, an effect that persisted for at least 4 hours after exercise. However, thirdly, this marker and other cardiovascular markers (such as cardiac output and stroke volume) did not correlate with reductions in blood pressure seen after 4 weeks of isometric training. Instead, the training-induced reductions in blood pressure correlated strongly with neuromuscular and metabolic markers of isometric training. The extent to which local muscle fatigue was induced during isometric training correlated with the reductions in resting blood pressure. Therefore (a) isometric training intensity appears to be of utmost importance in the reductions in resting blood pressure (when bilateral-leg exercise is performed in 2 minute bouts), and (b) the mechanism whereby the adaptations in resting blood pressure occur is best reflected in neuromuscular and metabolic markers of local muscle fatigue during that training. These findings are discussed with a particular focus on the possible role of muscle metaboreceptor stimulation, during isometric training in the mechanism of training-induced reduction in resting blood pressure.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo