firewatcher Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Physiol Behav. 2012 Feb 25. [Epub ahead of print] Delaying orthostatic syncope with mental challenge: A pilot study.Goswami N, Roessler A, Hinghofer-Szalkay H, Montani JP, Steptoe A. SourceInstitute of Physiology, Medical University of Graz, Austria. AbstractAt orthostatic vasovagal syncope there appears to be a sudden decline of sympathetic activity. As mental challenge activates the sympathetic system, we hypothesized that doing mental arithmetic in volunteers driven to the end point of their cardiovascular stability may delay the onset of orthostatic syncope. We investigated this in healthy male subjects. Each subject underwent a head up tilt (HUT)+ graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP) up to presyncope session (control) to determine the orthostatic tolerance time, OTT (Time from HUT commencement to development of presyncopal symptoms/signs). Once the tolerance time was known, a randomized crossover protocol was used: either 1) Repeat HUT+LBNP to ensure reproducibility of repeated run or 2) HUT+LBNP run but with added mental challenge (2min before the expected presyncope time). Test protocols were separated by 2weeks. Our studies on five male test subjects indicate that mental challenge improves orthostatic tolerance significantly. Additional mental loading could be a useful countermeasure to alleviate the orthostatic responses of persons, particularly in those with histories of dizziness on standing up, or to alleviate hypotension that frequently occurs during hemodialysis or on return to earth from the spaceflight environment of microgravity.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. PMID: 22387271 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Dang, I can't do math even lying down!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roxie Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I don't get it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 The opposite occurs in POTS - increased sympathetic activity stops the neuronal vasodilation in cognitive challenge in POTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 So does this mean that not only are we lazy and Grinch-like (thank you Dr. Levine) but now if we would just do more mentally challenging tasks while we're upright we wouldn't have pre- syncope/syncope? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Hey Grinch is a step up from an anxiety diagnosis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Hey Grinch is a step up from an anxiety diagnosis LOL. As always in life, It's all in how you look at things, isn't it rama?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 i try to convince myself that every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewatcher Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 "As mental challenge activates the sympathetic system..."Since being upright is already a huge challenge, thinking hard for something like a test or taxes, etc. just ramps our sympathetic nervous system even more! I think that this is why it is so exhausting to think and concentrate for long periods of time...and also why stress is such a big crash inducer for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Exactly. Did you see that neurocognitive deficits in pots study that suggested pots messed with the blood vessels feeding the brain so that they constrict instead of dilate in response to cognitive challenge. Interesting as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Awwwww, therefore the severe brain fog we have. The harder I think, the more worried I get - that my brain function is getting worse. Need to get some brain blood flow.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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