Baroreceptor reflex sensitivity under postural, respiratory and mental stress

• Grant number: 99/03616-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: August 26, 1999
• End date: August 25, 2001
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Effort
• Principal Investigator: Roseli Golfetti
• Grantee: Roseli Golfetti
• Host Investigator: Benjamin H. Natelson
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Educação Física (FEF). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, United States

Abstract

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a condition that results in moderate to severe disability, the primary feature of which is fatigue of unknown origin. The major symptom is debilitating fatigue of more than 6 months' duration associated with a marked decrease in daily activity that cannot be attributed to any known medical cause. Some CFS's patients present cardiovascular disturbs, one of them is the lower stroke volume, that might be due to peripheral vascular abnormalities. To determine this hypothesis, it will be done by producing graded increases in lower body negative pressure (LBNP) to induce progressive venous pooling in a controlled manner to simulate the cardiovascular effects of gravity. This study will also determine whether the CFS patients complaint of increased symptoms when they stand up quickly might be due to inadequate cardiovascular responses to postural change. (AU)