Leg Heating and Neural Control in Aging

We know that blood pressure increases with age, and that a large part of the global population takes at least one blood pressure lowering medication. Could acute leg heating be used as a non-pharmacological therapy to lower blood pressure in aged adults? In our latest podcast, Associate Editor Nisha Charkoudian (U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine) interviews lead author Steven Romero (University of North Texas Health Science Center) and expert Charlotte Usselman (McGill University) about the new study by Engelland et al. Romero and co-authors examined the neurovascular mechanisms through which acute isolated leg heating reduced arterial blood pressure in an older cohort of healthy adults compared to healthy younger adults. While sympathetic nerve activity did not differ from preheat to recovery in aged adults, this group experienced a marked reduction in blood pressure. Does this response vary by sex or is neurovascular transduction altered on an acute time scale? Listen to find out the answers to these questions as we cover this hot topic.

 

Rachel E. Engelland, Holden W. Hemingway, Olivia G. Tomasco, Albert H. Olivencia-Yurvati, Steven A. Romero Neural control of blood pressure is altered following isolated leg heating in aged humans Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published April 2, 2020. DOI: doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00019.2020