Bitter Orange (Citrus aurantium L.) Intake Before Submaximal Aerobic Exercise Is Safe for Cardiovascular and Autonomic Systems in Healthy Males: A Randomized Trial.

Background: There are still no studies of the cardiovascular safety of the isolated use of Citrus aurantium in aerobic submaximal exercise. Objective: To evaluate the effect of C. aurantium supplementation on the recovery of cardiorespiratory and autonomic parameters following a session of submaximal aerobic exercise. Methods: Twelve healthy male adults achieved a crossover, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial. C. aurantium (600 mg, p-synephrine at 30% amount [180 mg]) or placebo (600 mg of starch) were ingested 90 min before evaluation in randomized days. We evaluated systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and, HR variability indexes at Rest and during 60 min of recovery from exercise. Results: Citrus aurantium ingestion accelerated the reduction in SBP after exercise, anticipated the return of vagal modulation of the heart after exercise via the HF (ms2), pNN50 (%), and 2 UV% indices. Moreover, rushed the output of sympathetic modulation after exercise via the 0V% index. No unfavorable cardiovascular effects were achieved for HR, DBP, PP, and MAP parameters. Conclusions: Citrus aurantium was shown to be safe for the cardiovascular and autonomic systems alongside submaximal aerobic exercise in healthy males.

Association Between Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale and Autonomic Recovery Following Exercise.

The hospital anxiety depression scale (HADS) is a benchmark used to investigate possible and probable cases of psychosomatic illness. Its affiliation with autonomic recovery after exercise is unclear and, as a technique applied to evaluate cardiovascular risk. We assessed a possible link between HADS and autonomic recovery after exercise. We studied healthy subjects split into two groups: Low HADS (n = 20) and High HADS (n = 21). Subjects consented to moderate aerobic exercise on a treadmill at 60% to 65% of the maximum heart rate (HR) for 30 min. We studied HR variability (HRV) before and during 30 min after exercise. Subjects with higher HADS values presented delayed recovery of HR and root-mean square of differences between adjacent normal RR intervals (RMSSD) after submaximal exercise. RMSSD during recovery from exercise had a significant association with HADS. In summary, subjects with higher HADS presented slower vagal recovery following exercise.

Prevalence of Asthma symptoms and risk factors in adolescents / Prevalência de sintomas de asma e fatores de risco em adolescentes

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways, which is increasing its prevalence among teenagers recently. The trigger-related factors are numerous, including environmental factors, genetic, food among others. OBJECTIVE: Investigate the prevalence of asthma symptoms and possible risk factors in adolescents. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and quantitative study conducted in 104 adolescents aged between 13 to 14 years old of both sexes from four educational institutions: three private and one public. Participants answered two questionnaires: one on risk factors for allergic diseases (EISL) and the other on asthma symptoms (ISAAC asthma module). RESULTS: 104 adolescents answered the questionnaire: 54.8% girls and 45.2% boys. Male subjects had the most active asthma (64%) than female (20%) (p = 0.01) and also had more physician-diagnosed asthma (34.4%) than girls (6.1%) (p = 0.04), more wheezing after exercise (34.4%; 12.1%) (p = 0.03). Regarding the association between the symptoms and the risk factors we observed a statistically significant relationship between the presence of wheezing and hospitalization for public schools girls (p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a higher prevalence of asthma symptoms in males than in females unlike other studies was observed.

INTRODUÇÃO: A asma é a doença crônica das vias aéreas que vem apresentando um aumento na sua prevalência entre os adolescentes nas últimas décadas. Os fatores relacionados com o seu desencadeamento são inúmeros, passando por fatores ambientais, genéticos, alimentares dentre outros. OBJETIVO: Analisar a prevalência dos sintomas da asma e possíveis fatores de risco associados em adolescentes. MÉTODO: Trata-se de um estudo transversal, descritivo e quantitativo realizado em 104 adolescentes de 13 e 14 anos, de ambos os sexos, de quatro instituições de ensino: três privadas e uma pública. Os participantes responderam a dois questionários: um sobre os fatores de risco para doenças alérgicas e o outro sobre os sintomas da asma (ISAAC módulo asma). RESULTADOS: Responderam ao questionário 104 adolescentes: 54,8% meninas e 45,2% meninos. Os voluntários do sexo masculino apresentaram mais asma ativa (64,%) que as voluntárias (20%) (p = 0,01) e também tiveram mais asma diagnosticada (34,4%) do que as voluntárias (6,1%) (p = 0,04), além de mais chiado no peito após exercício (34,4%; 12,1%) (p = 0,03). Com relação à associação entre os sintomas e os fatores de riscos observou-se uma relação estatisticamente significante entre presença de sibilos e hospitalizações para as meninas de escolas públicas (p=0,05). CONCLUSÃO: Houve maior frequência de adolescentes do sexo masculino com asma ativa, asma diagnostica e sibilos após exercício físico. Por outro lado, as meninas da escola pública apresentaram um maior risco de hospitalização na presença de sibilos. Os demais fatores de riscos não apresentaram associações estatisticamente significantes com os sintomas da asma.

Autonomic responses induced by aerobic submaximal exercise in obese and overweight adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Graded exercises tests are performed in adult populations; nonetheless, the use of this type of assessment is greatly understudied in overweight and obese adolescents. OBJECTIVE: To investigate heart rate autonomic responses to submaximal aerobic exercise in obese and overweight adolescents. METHODS: We recruited 40 adolescents divided into two groups: (1) overweight group comprising 10 boys and 10 girls between Z-score +1 and +2 and (2) obese group comprising 10 boys and 10 girls above Z-score >+2. Heart rate variability was analysed before (T1) and after exercise (T2-T4) on treadmill at a slope of 0%, with 70% of the maximal estimated heart rate (220 - age) for 20 minutes. RESULTS: Heart rate in the overweight group was: 93.2±10.52 bpm versus 120.8±13.49 bpm versus 94.6±11.65 bpm versus 93.0±9.23 bpm, and in the obese group was: 92.0±15.41 bpm versus 117.6±16.31 bpm versus 92.1±12.9 bpm versus 91.8±14.33 bpm. High frequency in the overweight group was: 640±633.1 ms2 versus 84±174.66 ms2 versus 603.5±655.31 ms2 versus 762.6±807.21 ms2, and in the obese group was: 628.4±779.81 ms2 versus 65.4±119.34 ms2 versus 506.2±482.70 ms2 versus 677.9±939.05 ms2; and root mean square of successive differences in the overweight group was: 37.9±18.81 ms versus 10.9±8.41 ms versus 32.8±24.07 ms versus 36.7±21.86 ms, and in the obese group was: 38.7±23.17 ms versus 11.5±8.62 ms versus 32.3±16.74 ms versus 37.3±24.21 ms. These values significantly changed during exercise compared with resting values in overweight and obese groups. Moreover, we also reported no significant difference of resting parasympathetic control of heart rate between obese and overweight adolescents. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference of autonomic responses elicited by submaximal aerobic exercise between overweight and obese adolescents.

Poincaré plot analysis of ultra-short-term heart rate variability during recovery from exercise in physically active men.

BACKGROUND: Recently there has been increasing interest in the study of ultra-short-term heart rate variability (HRV) in sports performance and exercise physiology. In order to improve standardization of this specific analysis, we evaluated the ultra-short-term HRV analysis through SD1Poincaré Index to identify exercise induced responses. METHODS: We investigated 35 physically active men aged between 18 and 35 years old. Volunteers performed physical exercise on treadmill with intensity of 6.0 km/hour + 1% slope in the first five minutes for physical "warming up." This was followed by 25 minutes with intensity equivalent to 60% of maximal oxygen consumption, with the same slope according to the Conconi threshold. HRV was analyzed in the following periods: the five-minute period before the exercise and the five-minute period immediately after the exercise, the five minutes were divided into five segments of 60 RR intervals. Ultra-short-term RMSSD and SD1 analysis were performed. RESULTS: Ultra-short-term RMSSD and SD1 were significantly (P<0.0001) reduced during the initial five minutes divided into five segments of 60 RR intervals compared to (at rest) control. Heart rate was significantly (P<0.0001) increased 1 min and 3 min immediately after exercise compared to (at rest) control. At rest ultra-short-term SD1 presented significant correlation with short-term (256 RR intervals) RMSSD (r=0.78; P<0.0001), HF (r=0.574; P=0.0007) and SD1 (r=0.78; P<0.0001). Additionally, visual analysis with the Poincaré plot detected changes in HRV after exercise. CONCLUSIONS: Ultra-short-term HRV analysis through Poincaré plot identified heart rate autonomic responses induced by aerobic exercise.