Monroe Derek C, Yin Jianchun, McCully Kevin K, Dishman Rodney K
Altern Ther Health Med. 2018 Sep;24(5):12-17.
Hypotension that occurs after a single bout of aerobic exercise also attenuates the vascular response to discrete stressors, an effect that can last for hours. It is unknown whether the hypotensive benefits of traditional exercise extend to alternative forms of mindful exercise, such as yoga, to confer transient protection against neurovascular challenges that increase blood pressure (BP).
The study intended to examine the effects of acute exercise on neurovascular responses to exposure of the forehead of female yoga practitioners to vasoconstrictive cold (ie, to cold pressor stress).
The research team designed a study with 3 conditions (ie, with participants' participation in 3 activities on separate days in a repeated-measures design). Participants were randomly assigned to perform the activities in 1 of 3 orders across successive visits.
Participants were 9 females, 20 to 33 y old, who had regularly practiced Hatha yoga from 6 mo to 12 y before the start of the study. All participants were normotensive at entry to the study and had normal body weights for their heights.
All participants performed 3 activities: (1) self-directed yoga practice, the intervention; (2) cycling exercise at a self-selected intensity, a positive control; and (3) quiet rest, a negative control.
Postintervention, participants' foreheads were exposed to cold. Their systolic blood pressures (SBPs), diastolic blood pressures (DBPs), pulse rates, and forearm oxygenation were assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy.
Participants' SBPs and DBPs increased during cold pressor stress under all conditions, concurrent with decreased forearm oxygenation. During recovery from the cold, participants' BPs declined to near precold pressor baseline levels after yoga and cycling but remained elevated after quiet rest.
The enhanced recovery of BP from cold applied to the forehead after yoga practice or cycling exercise suggests that both types of exercise promote a hypotensive response, which could indicate lowered cardiovascular risk.
单次有氧运动后出现的低血压也会减弱血管对离散应激源的反应，这种效应可持续数小时。传统运动的降压益处是否能扩展到其他形式的正念运动，如瑜伽，从而为抵御导致血压（BP）升高的神经血管挑战提供短暂保护，目前尚不清楚。
本研究旨在探讨急性运动对女性瑜伽练习者前额暴露于血管收缩性寒冷（即冷加压应激）时神经血管反应的影响。
研究团队设计了一项包含3种情况的研究（即让参与者在重复测量设计中于不同日期参与3项活动）。参与者在连续几次就诊时被随机分配以3种顺序之一进行活动。
9名年龄在20至33岁之间的女性参与者，在研究开始前已定期练习哈他瑜伽6个月至12年。所有参与者在进入研究时血压正常，身高体重比例正常。
所有参与者进行3项活动：（1）自主瑜伽练习，即干预措施；（2）以自我选择的强度进行自行车运动，作为阳性对照；（3）安静休息，作为阴性对照。
干预后，让参与者的前额暴露于寒冷环境。使用近红外光谱法评估他们的收缩压（SBP）、舒张压（DBP）、脉搏率和前臂氧合情况。
在所有情况下，冷加压应激期间参与者的SBP和DBP均升高，同时前臂氧合降低。在从寒冷中恢复过程中，瑜伽和自行车运动后参与者的血压降至接近冷加压前基线水平，但安静休息后血压仍保持升高。
瑜伽练习或自行车运动后，前额受冷后血压恢复增强，表明这两种运动均促进了降压反应，这可能意味着心血管风险降低。
