Respiratory physiology & neurobiology
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During submaximal exercise, some otherwise healthy obese women experience breathlessness, or dyspnea on exertion (+DOE), while others have mild or no DOE (-DOE). We investigated whether weight loss could reduce DOE. Twenty nine obese women were grouped based on their Ratings of Perceived Breathlessness (RPB) during constant load 60 W cycling: +DOE (n = 14, RPB ≥ 4, 34 ± 8 years, and 36 ± 3 kg/m(2)) and -DOE ( n= 15, RPB ≤ 2, 32 ± 8 years, and 36 ± 4 kg/m(2)) and then completed a 12-week weight loss program. ⋯ RPB decreased significantly in the +DOE group (from 4.7 ± 1.1 to 3.1 ± 1.6) and remained low in the -DOE (from 1.5 ± 0.7 to 1.6 ± 1.1) (interaction p < 0.002). Most physiological variables measured (i.e. body composition, fat distribution, pulmonary function, oxygen cost of breathing, and cardiorespiratory measures) improved with weight loss; however, the decrease in RPB was not correlated with any of these variables (p > 0.05). In conclusion, moderate weight loss was effective in reducing breathlessness on exertion in obese women who experienced DOE at baseline.
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Respir Physiol Neurobiol · Dec 2014
Respiratory responses following blast-induced traumatic brain injury in rats.
Blast overpressure (OB) injury in rodents has been employed for modeling the traumatic brain injury (TBI) induced by an improvised explosive device (IED) in military service personnel. IED's can cause respiratory arrest if directed at the thorax due to the fluid-tissue interface of the lungs but it is unclear what respiratory changes occur in a head-directed OB injury. ⋯ The breathing pattern of the rodents will be recorded during the OB injury. Our results indicate that a dorsal directed closed-head OB injury results in a neurally mediated apnea followed by respiratory timing changes.