Acute Effects of Foot Reflexology Massage on Arterial Pulse Wave Characteristics after Aerobic-based and Anaerobic-based Intermittent Exercises: A Preliminary Study

Aims: This study used pretest-posttest randomized group comparison to investigate the acute effects of foot reflexology massage (FRM) intervention on the pulse harmonic and parasympathetic modulation after repeated sprint ability test (RSA) and Yo Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YOYO). Background: The arterial pulse wave characteristics (APW) is a physiological indicator of peripheral arterial compliance. Reflexology massage is a non-invasive intervention to improve arterial compliance. However, the acute effect of FRM on APW after intense exercise has not been examined. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effect of FRM after short-term bouts of anaerobic-based and aerobic-based intermittent exercises. Methods: Twenty-six collegiate male football/futsal players voluntarily participated in this study. All participants were randomly assigned to FRM group (n = 14) or control group (n = 12). The participants performed RSA and YOYO exercise protocols at least 3 days apart within a week. The electrocardiography (ECG), and APW of right hand (RH), left hand (LH), and left foot (LF) were recorded for 10 min in supine position before and after interventional/control period. A standard of 30 min FRM was given immediately after exercises, whereas those of control group were requested to rest comfortably on a massage table for 30 min. Non-parametric statistical analyses (The Mann-Whitney rank and Wilcoxon signed rank test) were used to compare the measured variables. Results: The results showed different characteristics of sympathetic nervous system index after RSA and YOYO protocols in the FRM and control groups [FRM: RSA (p = 0.01); Control: YOYO (p < 0.01)]. The results also identified similar exercise-induced modulation of 1st and 2nd pulse harmonics in LF location with or without FRM treatment. Conclusion: The FRM intervention demonstrated minor impact on the recovery of APW and parasympathetic modulation after RSA and YOYO exercises. Clinical Trail Registration Number: NCT03821805

PULSE-WAVEFORM AND LASER-DOPPLER INDICES FOR IDENTIFYING COLORECTAL-CANCER PATIENTS

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of using noninvasive arterial pulse-wave and laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF) measurements to discriminate between colorectal-cancer (CC) patients and healthy control subjects. Radial-artery blood pressure waveform (BPW), finger photoplethysmography (PPG), and skin-surface LDF signals were measured noninvasively in 12 CC patients and 25 control subjects. Beat-to-beat, spectral, and variability analyses were applied to 20-minute-long recorded signals. Significant intergroup differences were found. In BPW, [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] amplitude indices were significantly larger while [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] phase-angle indices were significantly smaller in the CC patients than in the controls. The PPG and LDF variability indices were significantly larger and smaller, respectively, in CC patients. The relative energy contributions of the endothelial-, neural-, and myogenic-related frequency bands in LDF were significantly smaller in CC patients. The present findings indicate that pulse and LDF waveform analysis can be used to evaluate the arterial pulse-wave transmission condition, the responses of the blood-flow perfusion, and its regulatory activities in CC patients. There could be some similarities and differences in the present indices for different types of cancer. These findings could be utilized in the development of a rapid, noninvasive, and objective technique for evaluating the CC-induced blood-flow responses.