The combined effect of the cold pressor test and isometric exercise on heart rate and blood pressure

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the cold pressor test during isometric knee extension [15% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)] could have an additive effect on cardiovascular responses. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures, heart rate and pressure rate product were measured in eight healthy male subjects. The subjects performed the cold pressor tests and isometric leg extensions singly and in combination. The increases of systolic and diastolic blood pressure during isometric exercise were of almost the same magnitude as those during the cold pressor test. The responses of arterial blood pressure, and heart rate to a combination of the cold pressor test and isometric knee extension were greater than for each test separately. It is suggested that this additional effect of cold immersion of one hand during isometric exercise may have been due to vasoconstriction effects in the contralateral unstressed limb. In summary, the circulatory effects of the local application of cold during static exercise at 15% MVC were additive.

Cardiovascular responses to cold-water immersions of the forearm and face, and their relationship to apnoea

“…changes in central blood volume and isometric exercise; Ebert et al 1982;Peikert and Smolander 1991). There has been, to our knowledge, no other study investigating whether cold stimulation of the extremities aects the cardiovascular responses to apnoea, the human diving response.…”

Autonomic Nervous Function During Whole-Body Cold Exposure Before and After Cold Acclimation

“…Cold exposure and isometric exercise both involve the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Previous studies examining the effects of local cooling on cardiovascular responses during isometric exercise have recorded additional effects of cold and exercise on the cardiovascular responses ( 25 ), whereas others have failed to detect them ( 15 ). This is the fi rst study to examine the effects of wholebody cooling on cardiovascular responses during a handgrip test.…”

Vasoconstrictor Reserve and Sympathetic Neural Control of Orthostasis

“…49 Whether activation of the skin's cold nociceptors by the CPT can interact with the baroreflexes activated by postural changes in humans has not been determined with certainty; however, additive rather than potentiating effects on sympathetic activity were found during LBNP in combination with the CPT. 50 Moreover, cardiovascular responses to combined CPT and static exercise summed additively, 51 which indicates independence of sympathetic excitation by the baroreflex and somatic pressor reflex mechanisms. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude completely the possibility that activation of the skin's cold nociceptors attenuates sympathetic excitation by the baroreflexes, because we noticed that MSNA was slightly suppressed by the CPT during HUT in some subjects, especially in the hypovolemic condition.…”