Cardiovascular autonomic modulation after acute resistance exercise in women with fibromyalgia.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that autonomic modulation after resistance exercise (RE) would be reduced in women with fibromyalgia (FM) compared with controls. DESIGN: Before-after trial. SETTING: Testing occurred in a university setting. PARTICIPANTS: Women with FM (n=9) and healthy controls (n=9) underwent testing before (pre) and 20 minutes after (post) RE. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Normalized low-frequency (LFnu) and normalized high-frequency (HFnu) oscillations and the LFnu/HFnu ratio were indicative of sympathetic modulation, parasympathetic modulation, and sympathovagal balance, respectively. Baroreceptor reflex sensitivity (BRS) was also measured. RESULTS: Variables were similar in both groups at rest. HFnu decreased in controls (pre, 55.0+/-4.2%; post, 35.0+/-4.7%; P<.05) and increased in women with FM (pre, 57.0+/-5.7%; post, 63.2+/-4.6%; P<.05). LFnu increased in controls (pre, 43.3+/-4.4%; post, 63.2+/-4.8%; P<.05) and decreased in women with FM (pre, 41.8+/-5.6%; post, 35.6+/-4.7%; P<.05). The LFnu/HFnu ratio increased in controls (pre, 0.89+/-0.17; post, 2.43+/-0.64; P<.05) with no change in women with FM (pre, 0.90+/-0.22; post, 0.64+/-0.13; P=.13). BRS decreased in controls (pre, 8.78+/-1.42 ms/mmHg; post, 5.49+/-0.66 ms/mmHg; P<.05), but not in women with FM (pre, 5.91+/-1.22 ms/mmHg; post, 9.23+/-2.4 ms/mmHg; P=.16). CONCLUSIONS: After acute RE, women with FM responded differently from controls, demonstrated by lower sympathetic and higher vagal modulation without altering BRS. These postexercise responses may be attributed to the altered autonomic responsiveness to physiologic stress that characterizes FM.

Author information

Author/s: Kingsley, J Derek (JD); Panton, Lynn B (LB); McMillan, Victor (V); Figueroa, Arturo (A);

Affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. allaboutfitness(-atsign-)juno.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article

Journal: Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation (Arch Phys Med Rehabil), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 90 (issue 9) : pp 1628-34

Dates: Created 2009/09/08; Completed 2009/10/16;

PMID: 19735793, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/16/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.