Posted on 02/09/2022 8:17:55 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Feeling lightheaded upon standing up due to initial orthostatic hypotension (IOH), or a transient decrease in blood pressure and increase in heart rate, is a common but poorly understood condition. A new study offers two simple cost- and drug-free techniques to effectively manage symptoms of IOH and improve quality of life by activating lower body muscle before or after standing.
Syncope, lightheadedness, dizziness, or loss of consciousness from IOH, affects up to 40% of the general population (all ages), while presyncope is probably even more common. Despite this, the condition is relatively understudied and there is minimal information available about the underlying mechanisms or symptom management and treatment. Currently, there are very few options available to patients with IOH and no pharmacological treatments. The most common recommendations have been to stand up slowly or sit up first before standing.
This study investigated physical maneuvers before or after standing and their efficacy in reducing the drop in blood pressure as well as the symptoms typically seen in IOH patients upon standing.
The 22 study participants completed three sit-to-stand maneuvers including a stand with no intervention (control), and two interventions. Researchers found that both lower body muscle preactivation (thighs) through repeated knee raises prior to standing (PREACT) and lower body muscle tensing (thighs and buttocks) through leg crossing and tensing immediately after standing (TENSE) effectively improve the blood pressure drop. This led to a reduction in symptoms upon standing. They found that the PREACT maneuver accomplished this by increasing cardiac output, while the TENSE maneuver did so by increasing stroke volume.
"Our study provides a novel and cost-free symptom management technique that patients with IOH can use to manage their symptoms," noted first author Nasia A. Sheikh, MSc.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
We do this in airplanes under high G.
I was thinking I was gonna need a g-suit.
I was taking a flight physical 50 years ago. I was laying prone on an examining table, and when the doctor told me to get up, I fainted.
He had a great suggestion: “Marine, take off that damned tie!”
He must’ve known what he was talking about. No further investigation, and he cleared me for flight training.
And order another martini!
Regards,
Better than a G-string.
Wait wut? There's a YE OLD ZOT PING LIST??? Add me pretty please?
Just a couple of weeks ago I fainted after standing up and walking a few feet. I regained consciousness a few seconds later but it was scary; nothing like that ever happened to me before. Glad to know it’s a relatively common occurrence. Thanks for the tips for preventing it.
Really neat stuff.
G suits are great until you fart in one and it slips out later directly up your mask.
TMI, I know.
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