This study tested two theories about the
relationship between voluntary changes in muscle tension and pulmonary function in asthma.
Kotses has theorized that decreased facial muscle tension decreases respiratory impedance
via a hypothesized vagaltrigeminal reflex, but that muscle tension in other muscle groups
has no such effect. Others have suggested that decreased thoracic muscle tension improves
pulmonary function. Subjects were 19 volunteer asthmatic adults. They performed 3-minute
cycles of deliberate muscle contraction, alternating two each for the shoulder and
forehead muscles, followed by dominant forearm contraction. Surface EMG was measured from
the frontalis and right trapezius areas. Airway impedance was measured by forced
oscillation pneumography. Cardiac interbeat interval and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were
measured to assess vagal tone. Frequency dependence of respiratory impedance increased
during shoulder tension, giving some support to the theory relating thoracic tension to
impairment in pulmonary function. Correlational analyses suggested a negative relationship
between changes in cardiac interbeat interval and both frontalis muscle tension and
decreased compliance of tissues in the airways. These findings are the opposite of those
predicted by the vagal-trigeminal reflex theory.
Adolescence
Adult
Electromyography
Female
Forced Expiratory Volume/PHYSIOLOGY
Heart Rate/PHYSIOLOGY
Human
Isometric Contraction/PHYSIOLOGY
Male
Oscillometry
Reflex/PHYSIOLOGY
Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. Trigeminal Nerve/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY
Vagus Nerve/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY
PUBLICATION TYPES:
JOURNAL ARTICLE
LANGUAGE:
Eng
On Sabbatical!
When my office
lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a
"sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my
grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important
to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life
gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the
pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his
assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because
he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his
luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh
