Hypertension and Stroke Cardiovascular Control Evaluation by Analyzing Blood Pressure, Cerebral Blood Flow, Blood Vessel Resistance and Baroreflex

Cardiovascular diseases have been the leading causes of mortality in Taiwan and the world at large for decades. The composition of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems is quite complicated. Therefore, it is difficult to detect or trace the related signs of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The characteristics and changes in cardiopulmonary system disease can be used to track cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease prevention and diagnosis. This can effectively reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. This study analyzes the variability in blood pressure, cerebral blood flow velocity and the interaction characteristics using linear and nonlinear approaches in stroke, hypertension and healthy groups to identify the differences in cardiovascular control in these groups. The results showed that the blood pressure and cerebral blood flow of stroke patients and hypertensive patients were significantly higher than those of healthy people (statistical differences (p < 0.05). The cerebrovascular resistance (CVR) shows that the CVR of hypertensive patients is higher than that of healthy people and stroke patients (p < 0.1), indicating that the cerebral vascular resistance of hypertensive patients is slightly higher. From the patient’s blood flow and vascular characteristics, it can be observed that the cardiovascular system is different from those in healthy people. Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) decreased in stroke patients (p < 0.05). Chaotic analysis revealed that the blood pressure disturbance in hypertensive patients has a higher chaotic behavior change and the difference in initial state sensitivity. Cross-correlation (CCF) analysis shows that as the course of healthy→hypertension→stroke progresses, the maximum CCF value decreases significantly (p < 0.05). That means that blood pressure and cerebral blood flow are gradually not well controlled by the self-regulation mechanism. In conclusion, cardiovascular control performance in hypertensive and stroke patients displays greater variation. This can be observed by the bio-signal analysis. This analysis could identify a measure for detecting and preventing the risk for hypertension and stroke in clinical practice. This is a pilot study to analyze cardiovascular control variation in healthy, hypertensive and stroke groups.

Research progress on the mechanism of orexin in pain regulation in different brain regions

Orexin is a neuropeptide that is primarily synthesized and secreted by the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and includes two substances derived from the same precursor (orexin A [OXA] and orexin B [OXB]). Studies have shown that orexin is not only involved in the regulation of eating, the sleep–wake cycle, and energy metabolism, but also closely associated with various physiological functions, such as cardiovascular control, reproduction, stress, reward, addiction, and the modulation of pain transmission. At present, studies that have been performed both domestically and abroad have confirmed that orexin and its receptors are closely associated with pain regulation. In this article, the research progress on acute pain regulation involving orexin is reviewed.

Screening of Pathophysiological Mechanisms and Psychological and Occupational Factors, Determining Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in High-Risk Professions

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are among the most significant and common chronic non-communicable diseases in Bulgaria. Screening, identification and registration of pathophysiological mechanisms and psychological and occupational factors related to CVD should be implemented in the diagnostic work-up. Job analysis contributes to the implementation of screening and identification of the most significant psychological and professional factors related to the work activity.Aim: The aim of our study is to examine the pathophysiological mechanisms of autonomic cardiovascular control and psychological and occupational factors determining the risk of CVD.Materials and methods: The following groups of individuals were examined: 83 physicians, 54 nurses, 23 employees and 40 militaries. The autonomic cardiovascular control was studied through the time-and frequency-domain based measures of the Analysis of Heart Rate Variability (HRV).Results: The results of the ANOVA test showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the time-domain and frequency-domain based HRV measures between the compared groups: X [F (4; 225) = 4.455, p = 0.001]; SDNN [F (4; 225) = 3.876, p = 0.005]; SDNN5 [F (4; 225) = 3.083, p = 0.01]; pNN50 [F (4; 225) = 8.303, p < 0.001]; rMSSD [F (4; 225) = 8.711, p < 0.001]; SDSD [F (4; 225) = 8.323, p < 0.001; VLF [F (4; 225) = 1.204, p = 0.31]; LF [F (4; 225) = 3.874, p = 0.005]; HF [F (4; 225) = 7.790, p < 0.001] and LF/HF [F (4; 225) = 8.601, p < 0.001]. The results of our study revealed that occupational stress and cognitive workload in physicians, nurses, and employees induced a process of reciprocally combined inhibition of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) (SDNN, SDNN5, pNN50, rMSSD, and HF) and activation of the sympathetic branch of ANS (LF), while in military personnel they cause a process of co-activation of the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of the ANS (rMSSD, SDNN, SDNN5, pNN50 and LF/HF).Conclusion: Stress-induced dysfunctional autonomic cardiovascular regulation, patho-physiological control mechanisms, psychological and occupational factors determine the risk of CVD. Their identification could contribute to the diagnostics and prevention of CVD.