Reduced baroreflex sensitivity in elderly humans is not due to efferent autonomic dysfunction

1999 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O'MAHONY ◽  
C. BENNETT ◽  
A. GREEN ◽  
A. J. SINCLAIR
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Baroreflex Sensitivity ◽  
Reflex Response ◽  
Cognitive Stress ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cold Face ◽  
Blood Pressure Responses ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Cold Face Test

A progressive decline in baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is a characteristic feature of human aging, the basis of which is poorly understood. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether alterations in efferent baroreflex function might contribute to the age-related decrease in BRS. We studied 10 healthy young (mean age 30.5 years; age range 22–40 years; six male) and 10 healthy elderly (mean age 70.7 years; age range 67–75 years; five male) volunteers. We tested efferent cardiac vagal function using the bradycardiac response to the cold face test, and efferent sympathetic function using heart rate and blood pressure responses to four stress tests: (i) low-level cognitive stress, (ii) high-level cognitive stress, (iii) hand immersion in ice water (cold pressor test) and (iv) isometric sustained hand-grip. Haemodynamic responses to these stresses are mediated via efferent baroreflex pathways, whereas the afferent components of each reflex response are independent of afferent baroreflex pathways. BRS was measured from simultaneous Finapres-derived continuous blood pressure and digital ECG R–R interval data using the sequence analysis paradigm. As expected, BRS was significantly reduced in the elderly group (7.29±0.74 ms/mmHg; mean±S.E.M.) compared with the young group (13.84±1.13 ms/mmHg; P < 0.001). However, neither the bradycardiac responses to the cold face test nor the efferent sympathetically mediated heart rate/blood pressure responses to the stress test battery were significantly different between the young and elderly groups. We conclude that the age-related decrease in BRS is not attributable to impairments in the efferent sympathetic or parasympathetic system components of the baroreceptor reflex pathway.

AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART RATE AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY IN SHR

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (s15) ◽  
pp. 85-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Minami ◽  
Y. Imai ◽  
M. Munakata ◽  
S. Sasaki ◽  
H. Sekino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Baroreflex Sensitivity ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

Effects of age, sex, and physical fitness on responses to local cooling

1978 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 813-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. LeBlanc ◽  
J. Cote ◽  
S. Dulac ◽  
F. Dulong-Turcot
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Female Group ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Trained Subjects ◽  
Cold Face ◽  
Hand Test ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Cold Face Test

The response to local cooling was estimated by the cold hand test (5 degrees C for 2 min) and the cold face test (0 degrees C with 66 km.h-1 wind for 2 min). Heart rate, blood pressure, and skin temperature were measured before, during, and after the tests. The increase in blood pressure (cold hand test) and the fall in Tsk (cold face test) were reduced in trained subjects. Similarly older subjects (53–60 yr of age) responded less to a cold hand test than younger subjects aged 20–40. However, the bradycardia caused by the cold face test was more pronounced in the older subjects. The responses to the cold hand and cold face tests were the same for male and female subjects. During the 2 min after the test, blood pressure and heart rate fell below initial values in the female group but not in the male. It is concluded that, besides adaptation to cold, individual factors such as age, sex, and physical fitness also have a relative importance in the responses to local cooling.

Cold face test demonstrates parasympathetic cardiac dysfunction in familial dysautonomia

1999 ◽  
Vol 276 (6) ◽  
pp. R1833-R1839 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Hilz ◽  
B. Stemper ◽  
P. Sauer ◽  
U. Haertl ◽  
W. Singer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Transfer Function ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Familial Dysautonomia ◽  
Cold Face ◽  
Parasympathetic Dysfunction ◽  
Transfer Function Gain ◽  
Cold Face Test

In familial dysautonomia (FD), i.e., Riley-Day syndrome, parasympathetic dysfunction has not been sufficiently evaluated. The cold face test is a noninvasive method of activating trigeminal brain stem cardiovagal and sympathetic pathways and can be performed in patients with limited cooperation. We performed cold face tests in 11 FD patients and 15 controls. For 60 s, cold compresses (0–1°C) were applied to the cheeks and forehead while we monitored heart rate, respiration, beat-to-beat radial artery blood pressure, and laser-Doppler skin blood flow at the first toe pulp. From these measurements heart rate variability parameters were calculated: root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), coefficient of variation (CV), low- and high-frequency (LF and HF, respectively) power spectra of the electrocardiogram, and the LF transfer function gain between blood pressure and heart rate. All patients perceived cold stimulation and acknowledged discomfort. In controls, heart rate and skin blood flow decreased significantly during cold face test; in patients, both parameters decreased only briefly and not significantly. In controls, blood pressure, RMSSD, CV, and heart rate HF-power spectra increased but remained unchanged in patients. Respiration, as well as heart rate LF power spectra, did not change in either group. In controls, LF transfer function gain between blood pressure and heart rate indicated that bradycardia was not secondary to blood pressure increase. We conclude that the cold face test demonstrated that patients with FD have a reduced cardiac parasympathetic response, which implies efferent parasympathetic dysfunction.

scholarly journals Age-related cardiovascular response to tilt test in healthy volunteers of both sexes

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Sadia Afrin Rimi ◽  
Sultana Ferdousi ◽  
Shamima Sultana
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Cardiovascular Response ◽  
Pressure Change ◽  
Tilt Test ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Age Range

This study aimed to assess the age-related changes in the cardiovascular response to tilt test in 90 healthy individuals of both sexes (age range: 18-60 years). Tilting was done at 600 for 10 min using a motorized tilt table. The blood pressure was recorded by a sphygmomanometer. The heart rate and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation were measured by a pulse oximeter. In males, significantly lesser changes in the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure were observed in the old age (47-60 years) than the young (18-32 years) and middle age (33-46 years) groups. Significantly lesser responses in the heart rate and systolic blood pressure change were observed in the old age females compared to young age after tilting. The rise of diastolic blood pressure after tilting was lesser in the old age female compared to both young and middle-age females. In conclusion, the aging process is associated with attenuated cardiovascular response to tilt test in both males and females.

Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Reactivity

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Whited ◽  
Kevin T. Larkin
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Cardiovascular Reactivity ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Blood Pressure Responses

Sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to stress are well documented, with some studies showing women having greater heart rate responses than men, and men having greater blood pressure responses than women, while other studies show conflicting evidence. Few studies have attended to the gender relevance of tasks employed in these studies. This study investigated cardiovascular reactivity to two interpersonal stressors consistent with different gender roles to determine whether response differences exist between men and women. A total of 26 men and 31 women were assigned to either a traditional male-oriented task that involved interpersonal conflict (Conflict Task) or a traditional female-oriented task that involved comforting another person (Comfort Task). Results demonstrated that women exhibited greater heart rate reactions than men independent of the task type, and that men did not display a higher reactivity than women on any measure. These findings indicate that sex of participant was more important than gender relevance of the task in eliciting sex differences in cardiovascular responding.

Heart rate and blood pressure variability and baroreflex sensitivity in patients with acute brain injury

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 394 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Papaioannou ◽  
M. Giannakou ◽  
N. Maglaveras ◽  
E. Sofianos ◽  
M. Giala
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Blood Pressure Variability ◽  
Baroreflex Sensitivity ◽  
Acute Brain Injury

Effect of heavy exercise on spectral baroreflex sensitivity, heart rate, and blood pressure variability in well-trained humans

2008 ◽  
Vol 295 (3) ◽  
pp. H1150-H1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Cottin ◽  
Claire Médigue ◽  
Yves Papelier
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Exercise Test ◽  
Blood Pressure Variability ◽  
Baroreflex Sensitivity ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Mechanical Effect ◽  
Heavy Exercise ◽  
Gas Exchange Parameters

The aim of the study was to assess the instantaneous spectral components of heart rate variability (HRV) and systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV) and determine the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency baroreflex sensitivity (HF-BRS) during a graded maximal exercise test. The first hypothesis was that the hyperpnea elicited by heavy exercise could entail a significant increase in HF-SBPV by mechanical effect once the first and second ventilatory thresholds (VTs) were exceeded. It was secondly hypothesized that vagal tone progressively withdrawing with increasing load, HF-BRS could decrease during the exercise test. Fifteen well-trained subjects participated in this study. Electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, and gas exchanges were recorded during a cycloergometer test. Ventilatory equivalents were computed from gas exchange parameters to assess VTs. Spectral analysis was applied on cardiovascular series to compute RR and systolic blood pressure power spectral densities, cross-spectral coherence, gain, and α index of BRS. Three exercise intensity stages were compared: below (A1), between (A2), and above (A3) VTs. From A1 to A3, both HF-SBPV (A1: 45 ± 6, A2: 65 ± 10, and A3: 120 ± 23 mm2Hg, P < 0.001) and HF-HRV increased (A1: 20 ± 5, A2: 23 ± 8, and A3:40 ± 11 ms2, P < 0.02), maintaining HF-BRS (gain, A1: 0.68 ± 0.12, A2: 0.63 ± 0.08, and A3: 0.57 ± 0.09; α index, A1: 0.58 ± 0.08, A2: 0.48 ± 0.06, and A3: 0.50 ± 0.09 ms/mmHg, not significant). However, LF-BRS decreased (gain, A1: 0.39 ± 0.06, A2: 0.17 ± 0.02, and A3: 0.11 ± 0.01, P < 0.001; α index, A1: 0.46 ± 0.07, A2: 0.20 ± 0.02, and A3: 0.14 ± 0.01 ms/mmHg, P < 0.001). As expected, once VTs were exceeded, hyperpnea induced a marked increase in both HF-HRV and HF-SBPV. However, this concomitant increase allowed the maintenance of HF-BRS, presumably by a mechanoelectric feedback mechanism.

scholarly journals Somatotypical features of the age dynamics of secondary sexual characteristics and functional parameters in city schoolchildren

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
V. A. Melnik
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Body Type ◽  
Age Dynamics ◽  
Functional Parameters ◽  
Secondary Sexual Characteristics ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Sexual Characteristics ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Age Related Changes ◽  
Secondary Sexual

Objective: to assess the constitutional features of the age dynamics of secondary sexual characteristics and functional parameters of city schoolchildren in the age range of 7–17 years.Materials and methods. The objects of the study were schoolchildren aged 7–17. The stages of the expression of secondary sexual characteristics were determined visually according to the scheme by J.M. Tanner. The functional parameters of the examined schoolchildren were assessed using the methods of dynamometry, spirometry; blood pressure and heart rates, as well as the time of simple sensorimotor reactions were measured.Results. As a result of the performed studies, it has been found that representatives of the hypersomnic types are ahead of other types to reveal the first stages of secondary sexual characteristics. Schoolchildren with the leptosomic morphotypes due to higher rates of their development have reached the definitive stages by the same age as those with the hypersomnic variants. The intensity of age-related changes in functional parameters (strength qualities, circulatory and respiratory systems, nervous system) in the studied objects depends on their body type.Conclusion. The stage and rate of puberty, as well as the development of functional parameters in city schoolchildren depends on their somatotype.

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