title: Blood pressure changes during physical exercise (the beat phenomenon).
abstract: We have previously reported that blood pressure during running shows a peculiar pattern attributable to the beat phenomenon. To elucidate the mechanism behind this phenomenon in 10 amateur athletes, intra-arterial blood pressure was continuously recorded using the Oxford technique. During the run, each athlete carried on his chest a container filled with saline kept under pressure, connected to a second transducer. In the container, pressure waves ranging in amplitude from +/- 10 to +/- 62 mmHg were recorded. Their frequency was equal to that of the athletes' strides. When these waves were added by computer to the blood pressure tracing recorded during a bicycle ergometric test, the resultant harmonic proved to be similar to the tracing observed during running. The present results demonstrate that the running-induced blood pressure pattern is the sum of the accessory wave generated by the rhythmic aortic shocks produced by running locomotion and the normal sphygmic wave.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Medica I, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palatini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mormino
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Munari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Torre
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Pessina
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dal Palù
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D004548:Elasticity; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010507:Periodicity; D005082:Physical Exertion; D012420:Running