title: Ventilatory response to exercise in men and women 55 to 86 years of age.
abstract: This study examines the relationship between minute ventilation (VE) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) during exercise in men (n = 128) and women (n = 96), 55 to 86 yr of age. The means for the slopes of VE-VCO2 (delta VE/delta VCO2), examined for graded exercise below the ventilation threshold (TVE), increased significantly for men (p < 0.0001), from 25.0 +/- 0.7 (SEM) at mean age 58 (55 to 59) yr to 32.2 +/- 1.8 at mean age 83 (80 to 86) yr, but did not change for women (p = 0.0812), from 22.3 +/- 0.9 at mean age 58 (56-59) yr to 24.2 +/- 2.4 at mean age 79 (75 to 85) yr. A correlation that was significantly greater than zero was found between delta VE/delta VCO2 and age. The increase in delta VE/delta VCO2 was 0.29/yr for men (r = 0.47, p < 0.001) and 0.20/yr for women (r = 0.28, p = 0.0051). In both cases, the explained variance was small (men = 22%; women = 8%). VE, tidal volume (VT), and breathing frequency (fb) were examined at VCO2 = 1.0 L/min, the highest intensity that most older men and women could exercise without exceeding TVE. VE was significantly higher by 14% in men 80 to 86 yr of age (38.2 +/- 1.4 L/min) compared with men 55 to 59 yr of age (33.5 +/- 0.8), whereas there were no differences in VE for the women.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Centre for Activity and Ageing, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Poulin
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Paterson
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rechnitzer
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Ecclestone
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Koval
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange / Q000502:physiology; D012119:Respiration / Q000502:physiology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012907:Smoking / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide