Effect of Music on Stress Parameters in Dogs during a Mock Veterinary Visit

Veterinary visits can be stressful for dogs, but how their wellbeing changes during a visit is not well understood. Music therapy has been successfully used in clinical practice to alleviate stress and anxiety in people. The present study aimed to understand how canine stress changes during a veterinary visit, establish the effect of music, and highlight measures which may be of practical use. In a randomized crossover design, dogs were exposed to no music and a bespoke piece of classical music at a tempo designed to match their resting heart rate during a mock veterinary visit. Dogs were scored as more “afraid” during the physical examination compared to when they were in the hospital kennel (p < 0.001). Salivary cortisol, IgA, and infrared temperature all increased significantly (p < 0.05) from baseline to post-kennel and post-examination, with no effect of music treatment. Core body temperature (p = 0.010) and the odds of ‘relaxed’ lips (p = 0.020) were lower when dogs were exposed to music compared to control visits. Overall, dogs experienced changes in physiology and behavior, indicative of increased stress, over the course of the visit. Additional research is required to further understand the effect that bespoke music may have in alleviating canine stress during veterinary visits.

Anthropometric Determinants of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Children

Background: The study was conducted to investigate the implications of anthropometry in school-aged children on the degree of respiratory sinus arrhythmia observed in clinical settings. Methods: In a cohort study, 626 healthy children (52% male) aged 10.8 ± 0.5 years attending primary school in a single town underwent a 12-lead electrocardiogram coupled with measurements of height, weight and blood pressure. Indices of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (pvRSA, RMSSD, RMSSDc) were derived from semi-automatic measurements of RR intervals. Height, weight, BMI, blood pressure as well as waist and hip circumferences were compared between subjects with rhythmic heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and correlations between indices of sinus arrhythmia and anthropometry were investigated. Results: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was recognized in 43% of the participants. Subjects with sinus arrhythmia had lower heart rate (p < 0.001), weight (p = 0.009), BMI (p = 0.005) and systolic (p = 0.018) and diastolic (p = 0.004) blood pressure. There were important inverse correlations of heart rate and indices of sinus arrhythmia (r = −0.52 for pvRSA and r = −0.58 for RMSSD), but not the anthropometry. Conclusion: Lower prevalence of respiratory sinus arrhythmia among children with overweight and obesity is a result of higher resting heart rate observed in this population.

EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CARDIO-RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

This research paper is an initiative to provide insight associated with physiological health of employees’ by examining the interventions of yogic exercise on physiological health. The investigation was done to study the impact of Yoga and Pranayama on functioning of Lungs (vital capacity) and functioning of heart (resting heart rate) as an ancient therapy. The purpose of the study was found out the effect of aerobic exercise and yogic practices on resting pulse rate and vital capacity among employees of a private organization engaged in production of technical equipment’s for Indian Railway & Metro Trains & other such related industries. After taking due consent from the promoter and founder of PPS International, researcher randomly selected 120 subjects all males of age group 25-35years. Yoga helps to improve the lives of all age group irrespective of gender. It can be adopted from any stage of life or started at any age; yoga has shown excellent results on physiological health related variable of stressed working professionals.

Physical and physiological benefits of small sided recreational handball in untrained males: relationship of body fat with aerobic capacity

Background and Study Aim. Exercise and Recreation play major role in promotion of health and fitness. Recreational exercise or sports can be useful in physically inactive population. The aim of study was to investigate the effect of recreational handball on body fat percent, VO2max, blood pressure and resting heart rate. Another purpose to find relationship between VO2max and body fat percentage. Material and Methods. Twenty-four students were randomized into intervention (n=14) and control group (n=10). The intervention group was asked to play recreational handball for 12 weeks. Handball training was held twice a week for 30 minutes duration. The Control group performed their normal routine. Aerobic capacity measured using single-stage treadmill test. Body fat was measured with Omron Body Fat Analyzer. T-test was employed to find a significant difference in the two groups. For the relationship in aerobic capacity and body fat, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. Results. We found significant difference in body percent (t22 = 2.031, P = 0.054). No significant difference was seen in aerobic capacity (t22 = 1.578, P = 0.129), systolic blood pressure (t22 = -1.637, P = 0.116), diastolic blood pressure (t22 = -1.562, P = 0.133) and resting heart rate (t22 = 1.620, P = 0.120). Significant relationship was established between body percent and aerobic capacity (r= -5.23, n=14, p= 0.055) in the intervention group. Conclusions. It can be concluded that recreational handball was useful in eliciting good response with respect to reduction of body fat in intervention group. However, recreation handball sessions were not effective in reducing blood pressure, resting heart and aerobic capacity among untrained males. A significant relationship was observed in VO2max and percent body fat.

Isometric exercise versus high-intensity interval training for the management of blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveWe aimed to compare the efficacy of isometric exercise training (IET) versus high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in the management of resting blood pressure (BP).DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesPubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane library and SPORTDiscus were systematically searched.Eligibility criteriaRandomised controlled trials published between 1 January 2000 and 1 September 2020. Research trials reporting the effects of IET or HIIT on resting BP following a short-term intervention (2–12 weeks).Results38 studies were analysed (18 IET and 20 HIIT), including 1583 (672 IET and 911 HIIT) participants, of which 612 (268 IET and 344 HIIT) were controls.IET produced significantly greater reductions in resting BP compared with HIIT with systolic, diastolic and mean BP effect sizes of 8.50 mm Hg vs 2.86 mm Hg (Q=17.10, p<0.001), 4.07 mm Hg vs 2.48 mm Hg (Q=4.71, p=0.03) and 6.46 mm Hg vs 3.15 mm Hg (Q=4.21, p=0.04) respectively. However, HIIT reduced resting heart rate significantly more than IET (3.17bpm vs 1.34bpm, Q=7.63, p=0.006).ConclusionWhile both modes are efficacious, IET appears to be the superior mode of exercise in the management of resting BP. However, HIIT may achieve wider physiological benefits, with greater reductions in resting heart rate.

Exhaled Methane is Associated with a Lower Heart Rate

Background: In humans, methane (CH4) is exclusively produced by the intestinal microbiota and has been implicated in several conditions including cardiovascular disease. After microbial production of CH4 in the gut, it steadily crosses into the systemic circulation and reaches the lungs where it can be detected in the exhaled breath, as a surrogate measure for intestinal CH4 production. Recent reports have shown an association between CH4 and vagal dysfunction as well as the inhibition of CH4 activity on ileal contractions with atropine, suggesting its action on the parasympathetic nervous system. Given these findings we hypothesized that CH4 may be affecting resting heart rate based on the potential effect of CH4 on the vagus nerve. Objectives: Given its possible role in the parasympathetic nervous system, we aimed to study the relationship between breath CH4 and resting heart rate (HR) in humans. Additionally, we performed a longitudinal study analyzing the change in HR and its association to breath CH4 over time. Methods: First, we reviewed 1,126 subjects and compared HR in subjects with detectable and undetectable breath CH4. Second, we performed a post-hoc analysis of a randomized control trial to compare the change in HR for those who had an increase in breath CH4 vs those that had a decrease in breath CH4 over 14 weeks. Lastly, we assessed whether a larger decrease in CH4 is associated with a larger increase in HR over time. Results: In the retrospective cohort, subjects with detectable CH4 had a lower HR compared to those with undetectable CH4 (73.0±0.83 vs 76.0±0.44 beats/min; p=0.01). In the post-hoc analysis, a decrease in CH4 over time was associated with an increase in heart rate (median ∆ = 6.5 ± 8.32 beats/min, p=0.0006). Lastly, we demonstrated a biological gradient whereby a larger drop in CH4 is associated with a greater increase in heart rate (R= -0.31, p=0.03). Conclusion: Our findings suggest a potential role for the microbiome (and specifically CH4 from methanogens) to regulate heart rate. Considering these findings, mechanistic studies are warranted to further investigate this potential novel microbiome-neurocardiac axis.

Elevated resting heart rate is associated with increased radiographic severity of knee but not hand joints

Although the resting heart rate (RHR) predicts the clinical outcomes of cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes mellitus, and the risk of cancer, its role in patients with musculoskeletal diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA), remains unclear. We explored the association of the RHR with the extents of radiographic changes in the knees and hands of 2369 subjects from the Dong-gu Study. The radiographic hand and knee joint findings were graded semi-quantitatively; we calculated total hand and knee joint scores. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the associations between the RHR and the radiographic characteristics of these joints. For the knee joints, the RHR was associated positively with the total (p < 0.01), osteophyte (p < 0.01), joint space narrowing (JSN; p < 0.01), and tibial attrition (p = 0.02) scores after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, educational and physical activity levels, and comorbidities. For the hand joints, the RHR was associated positively with the JSN (p = 0.01) and subchondral cyst (p < 0.01) scores after such adjustment. The RHR was not associated with the total, osteophyte, sclerosis, erosion, or malalignment score for the hand joints. This study is the first to reveal an association between the RHR and the radiographic severity of knee, but not hand, OA.