Reactivate Your Second Heart

Biofeedback ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-102
Author(s):  
Monica Almendras ◽  
Erik Peper
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Calf Muscle ◽  
Additional Stress ◽  
Leg Muscles ◽  
Cisterna Chyli ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
Calf Muscles

Sitting or standing without moving the leg muscles puts additional stress on your heart, as blood and lymph pool in the legs. Tightening and relaxing the calf muscles can prevent the pooling of the blood. The inactivity of the calf muscles does not allow the blood to flow upward and may result in “sitting disease,” contributing to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Activating the calf muscles as well as other leg muscles are strategies to support cardiovascular health. Thus, the calf muscles are sometimes called “our second heart.” The important function of our “second heart” is to act as a pump to return venous blood and lymph fluids upward, which can occur only when we interrupt sitting with many brief exercises by frequently standing up during the day. Suggestions regarding how to implement short breaks are included. Note that, medically, the term second heart refers to the cisterna chyli, which brings the lymphatic fluids up from the abdomen; however, in this article, second heart is used in a common popular sense of the term as the description of the calf muscle to pump the venous blood toward the heart.

The use of ultrasound in the evaluation of the efficacy of calf muscle pump function in primary chronic venous disease

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
R S S Crisóstomo ◽  
M S Candeias ◽  
P A S Armada-Da-Siva
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Calf Muscle ◽  
Chronic Venous Disease ◽  
Venous Disease ◽  
Venous Blood Flow ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Fascicle Length ◽  
Muscle Fascicle ◽  
Calf Muscles

Objectives To evaluate popliteal vein blood flow during calf muscle contraction in chronic venous disease (CVD) patients and healthy controls using ultrasound imaging and to investigate the relationship between venous blood flow and gastrocnemius muscle (GM) morphology. Methods Thirty-one subjects participated in this study (mean age: 40.3 [11.8] years), 15 healthy controls and 16 with CVD (clinical classification: C1–4). Popliteal vein cross-sectional area and venous blood flow velocity (FV) were evaluated by Doppler ultrasound at baseline and during three sets of 10 tip-toe movement repetitions. Muscle thickness, muscle fascicle length and pennation angle of both medial and lateral GM were measured by ultrasound. Measures were repeated a week later in 17 participants in order to assess reproducibility with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis. Results Peak FV was lower in CDV group compared with Control group for both first (40.6 [11.8] versus 62.4 (22.1) cm2/second; P = 0.021) and last (30.4 [9.1] versus 49.5 (22.7) cm2/second; P = 0.024) contraction. In CVD group, peak FV during first contraction increased with GM's muscle fascicle length ( r = 0.63; P = 0.041). Popliteal FV also increased with rising range of muscle fascicles pennation change between ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion ( r = 0.70; P = 0.025). No associations were found between haemodynamics and medial or lateral GM thickness. Calf muscular architecture was similar in both CVD and control participants. Test–retest reliability of FV measured in the same session was high (ICC≈0.70) for measures taken in the first contraction of the set but lowered when using the last contraction (ICC <0.50). Reproducibility of ultrasound evaluation of calf pump is acceptable within the same session but is unsatisfactory when testing in separate days. Conclusion Patients with moderate CVD have lower FV during calf muscles contraction but similar muscle anatomical characteristics compared with healthy controls. Changes in calf muscles flexibility and fatigue resistance may be investigated as possible causes of calf pump dysfunction.

scholarly journals Longitudinal association between cardiovascular health and arterial stiffness in the Chinese adult population

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 030006052199888
Author(s):  
Yu Sang ◽  
Kaimin Mao ◽  
Ming Cao ◽  
Xiaofen Wu ◽  
Lei Ruan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Arterial Stiffness ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Annual Change ◽  
Chinese Adult ◽  
Lower Baseline ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
Longitudinal Association

Objective Arterial stiffness may be an intermediary biological pathway involved in the association between cardiovascular health (CVH) and cardiovascular disease. We aimed to evaluate the effect of CVH on progression of brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) over approximately 4 years. Methods We included 1315 cardiovascular disease-free adults (49±12 years) who had two checkups from 2010 to 2019. CVH metrics (current smoking, body mass index, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting plasma glucose) were assessed at baseline, and the number of ideal CVH metrics and CVH score were calculated. Additionally, baPWV was examined at baseline and follow-up. Results Median baPWV increased from 1340 cm/s to 1400 cm/s, with an average annual change in baPWV of 15 cm/s. More ideal CVH metrics and a higher CVH score were associated with lower baseline and follow-up baPWV, and the annual change in baPWV, even after adjustment for confounding variables. Associations between CVH parameters and baseline and follow-up baPWV remained robust in different sex and age subgroups, but they were only able to predict the annual change in baPWV in men and individuals older than 50 years. Conclusions Our findings highlight the benefit of a better baseline CVH profile for progression of arterial stiffness.

scholarly journals Elucidating the Relationship Between Insomnia, Sex, and Cardiovascular Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 247028972098001
Author(s):  
Rebecca Leeds ◽  
Ari Shechter ◽  
Carmela Alcantara ◽  
Brooke Aggarwal ◽  
John Usseglio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sex Research ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cvd Mortality

Sex differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality have been attributed to differences in pathophysiology between men and women and to disparities in CVD management that disproportionately affect women compared to men. Similarly, there has been investigation of differences in the prevalence and presentation of insomnia attributable to sex. Few studies have examined how sex and insomnia interact to influence CVD outcomes, however. In this review, we summarize the literature on sex-specific differences in the prevalence and presentation of insomnia as well as existing research regarding the relationship between insomnia and CVD outcomes as it pertains to sex. Research to date indicate that women are more likely to have insomnia than men, and there appear to be differential associations in the relation between insomnia and CVD by sex. We posit potential mechanisms of the relationship between sex, insomnia and CVD, discuss gaps in the existing literature, and provide commentary on future research needed in this area. Unraveling the complex relations between sex, insomnia, and CVD may help to explain sex-specific differences in CVD, and identify sex-specific strategies for promotion of cardiovascular health. Throughout this review, terms “men” and “women” are used as they are in the source literature, which does not differentiate between sex and gender. The implications of this are also discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document