European journal of applied physiology
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Jul 2010
Comparative StudyCold-induced vasoconstriction at forearm and hand skin sites: the effect of age.
During mild cold exposure, elderly are at risk of hypothermia. In humans, glabrous skin at the hands is well adapted as a heat exchanger. Evidence exists that elderly show equal vasoconstriction due to local cooling at the ventral forearm, yet no age effects on vasoconstriction at hand skin have been studied. ⋯ E: -70 +/- 11 (n.s.)]. In conclusion, in contrast to results from the ventral forearm, elderly did not show a blunted response to local cooling and noradrenaline at hand skin sites. This indicates that at hand skin the noradrenergic mechanism of vasoconstriction is maintained with age.
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Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. · Jul 2010
Application of bioreactance for cardiac output assessment during exercise in healthy individuals.
In patients with cardiac failure, bioreactance-based cardiac output (CO) monitoring provides a valid non-invasive method for assessing cardiac performance during exercise. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of this technique during strenuous exercise in healthy, trained individuals. Fourteen recreational cyclists, mean (SD) age of 34 (8) years and relative peak oxygen uptake of (VO(2)) 56 (6) ml kg(-1) min(-1), underwent incremental maximal exercise testing, whilst CO was recorded continuously using a novel bioreactance-based device (CO(bio)). ⋯ Likewise, calculated (C(a - v) O(2)) was greater when determined using CO(bio) than CO(rb) (P < 0.001), although both devices provided values in excess of those reported in invasive studies. Bioreactance-based determination of CO provides a pragmatic approach to the continuous assessment of cardiac performance during strenuous exercise in trained individuals. Our findings, however, suggest that further work is needed to refine the key measurement determinants of CO using this device to improve measurement accuracy in this setting.