Hi Folks! (especially Pauline),
Here are the results of a slightly more thorough experiment that I carried out today to further clarify the impact of exercise on my post-AAA-stent hypertension. I rode my CompuTrainer for an hour, using a wattage ramp in 10-minute steps of 10 watts from 80 to 130 watts, at a 90-95 cadence and three blood pressure measurements at each time point with my trusty Omron Device. Here are the results presented graphically.
My Systolic Response To Increasing Load On CompuTrainer
My Diastolic Response To Increasing Load On CompuTrainer
To my surprise, there was a more statistically solid result for diastole than for systole. I am starting to wonder if the massive fall off in my training level as a result of the aortic aneurysm, subsequent stent insertion procedure and the necessary recovery period, contributed to my high post-‘stentification’ blood pressure. This is becoming interesting, and I am starting to wonder whether blood pressure should be monitored more carefully during post-stent follow-up, as hypertension to this degree is clearly dangerous, though less dangerous than any currently available alternative to an AAA-stent. Mine is a Cook, Zenith Stent. I am very pleased with it, and I call it Rupert!
We of course have to bear in mind that this is an experiment confined to only one subject. However, there is more to come, and I hope that it helps us to work out what is going on before something ruptures. I hate it when that happens!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12518633
Hi,
My husband provided me with this link to developments in blood pressure monitoring, which suggests that measurements close to the heart might be more meaningful than measurements in the arm. He also suggested that you try 30 minutes cycling at an intermediate wattage level and take your blood pressure every 3 minutes (he’s done some statistical process control).
I looked at your results from a fluid mechanics point of view, and speculated that: (a) when you exercise with your legs as in cycling, do the blood vessels in the legs “open”, providing more blood flow to the legs and less to the arm (hence the drop in pressure in the arm)? – the corollary might be that if you were to measure it while swimming, the blood flow to your arms, and hence your blood pressure as measured traditionally, might increase? (b) more speculation – was you heart working harder to supply blood pre-stent, and is now a stronger “pump” – providing more “head” in engineering terms?
Pauline
Hi! Pauline,
Please thank your husband for the link. I immediately wrote to the guy (Bryan Williams) telling him about my (our) blog. I’ll let you know if he answers. With respect to your comments on the readings, I have checked my measurements against the results in the Dr’s office (i.e. the standard manual approach) with good agreement. As your linked article says, that may not reflect cardiac pressure. I am most concerned about my cardiac and ocular capillary dynamics, and intra-cerebral pressures, as that is where my death or blindness will come from if I don’t get this down. I will see another cardiologist on Wednesday as we try to deal with this. Deb and Sue [training partner], both Registered Nurses, keep talking about dragging me to the ER! All of your questions are valid and there are many more. In fact, the level to which we can speculate on the underlying mechanisms is pretty interesting. Maybe I’ll do that as a post, or better still, see if I can get a cardiologist to do that. That said, I am a bit fed up with BP today, so I plan to post on something that might interest you, intra-abdominal pressure.