Article Title

Forearm vascular resistance responses to the Valsalva maneuver in healthy young and older adults

List of Authors

Brooke C. D. Hockin, Eileen Z. Tang, Matthew G. Lloyd, Victoria E. Claydon

The Journal in Which the Article is Published

Clinical Autonomic Research
DOI: 10.1007/s10286 021 00810 9 ; PMID: 34014418

A Brief Summary

An intact ability to constrict our blood vessels is critical for controlling blood pressure while standing and to prevent fainting. We characterized the ability to constrict the forearm blood vessels during the Valsalva maneuver, a stimulus known to produce decreases in blood pressure that trigger a compensatory constriction of the blood vessels, in healthy young and older adults. We showed that vascular constriction responses increased with age, particularly in women. Small constriction responses were associated with increased fainting susceptibility, highlighting the potential to use these responses to identify individuals with impaired blood pressure control, and to aid in the diagnosis of fainting disorders.
 

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