Breathing Rate and Steady-State Hemodynamics

Regulation of sympathetic nerve activity is a complex process under the best of conditions in human patients, and further complicated in disease states. In our podcast about the work by Limberg et al, Associate Editor Dr. Irving Zucker interviews lead author Jerome Dempsey (University of Wisconsin - Madison) and expert Harold Schultz (University of Nebraska Medical Center) to dig deeper into the question: Does breathing have the same marked modulatory effect on muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) in steady state activity – bursts per minute – as it does within the breath itself? Using previous studies with inconsistent results as a springboard for their own research, Dempsey and colleagues studied MSNA in human patients within breath and at steady state. What were their results? Listen in and find out.

Jacqueline K. Limberg, Barbara J. Morgan, William G. Schrage, and Jerome A. Dempsey Respiratory influences on muscle sympathetic nerve activity and vascular conductance in the steady state Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published online April 12, 2013, doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00112.2013.