Background: Global physical inactivity pandemic is responsible for more than 5 million deaths annually through its effects on non-communicable diseases. This requires urgent intervention. Objective: To investigate associations of physical activity with cardiovascular fitness in a cross-sectional retrospective observational study. Data were collected for 21 years from 2530 healthy volunteers and...

BACKGROUND Despite a diverse literature, the association between stress and various cardiovascular conditions remains controversial. Moreover, a direct association between stressful life events (SLEs) and heart rate (HR) have not been fully investigated. This study evaluated the association between SLEs and resting HR in middle-aged Koreans. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis was conducted fo...

An elevated resting heart rate is one of the strongest predictors of cardiovascular mortality and is independently associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD). Agents capable of reducing heart rate without significant side effects are therefore of particular interest for the prevention of SCD. Recent human and animal studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce heart rate. Our work has...

We studied the effects of sustained changes in resting mean arterial pressures (MAP) on arterial baroreceptor properties in anesthetized rabbits and on the baroreceptor-heart rate reflex in conscious animals. The rabbits had balloons implanted round their aorta and vena cava, for producing transient changes in MAP about the resting MAP. Aortic baroreceptor function curves were obtained at diffe...

Seventeen patients with coronary artery disease were studied with cineangiography and simultaneous tip manometry at resting heart rate and maximal tachycardia induced by atrial pacing. During early diastole, defined as the interval from the opening of the mitral valve to the point of minimal left ventricular pressure, 20 percent of total ventricular filling took place at resting heart rate, but...

During winter, free-living herbivores are often exposed to reduced energy supply at the same time that energy needs for thermoregulation increase. Several wild herbivores as well as robust horse breeds reduce their metabolism during times of low ambient temperature and food shortage. Thyroid hormones (THs) affect metabolic intensity and a positive effect of THs on basal metabolic rate (BMR) has...

Neural control of the cardiac responses to exercise in air (running) and under water (diving) was studied in the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) by means of acute pharmacological blockade with the muscarinic blocker atropine and the beta-adrenergic blocker nadolol. Saline injection was used as a control. Controls running on a treadmill showed a marked increase in heart rate with exercise. Atropine...