Cardiovascular System After Exercise - Case Study Example

Exercise has been recommended by almost all people around us. It is done by many to keep their good physical condition and improve their health and wellness. Exercise may also change some physiological events in the body to maintain the balance of increasing activity levels. These changes involve some of the organ systems in the body, which includes primarily the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous system. In this report, the changes that occur in the blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, gas volume, and gas composition of people before and after exercise will be presented and discussed. The results, as illustrated in figure 1 and 2, showed that there are changes in the cardiovascular system after exercise. There is increased value in both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate. The result regarding the blood pressure is consistent with other researches (Kelley & Kelley, 2000) which indicated that there is a progressive increase both the systolic and diastolic pressure. The result regarding heart rate is also consistent with several studies (Arroll & Beaglehole, 1992) which indicated that there should be an increase in the heart rate after exercise. These changes in the cardiovascular system can be associated with the increase in the release of adrenaline after exercise which can cause an increase in the heart rate and blood pressure (Van Hoof et al, 1989). Figure 1. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure at rest and after exercise. (x-axis: subject; y-axis: blood pressure) Figure 2. Heart rate measured in beats per minute at rest and after exercise (x-axis: subject; y-axis: bpm) Also, results showed that there are major changes in the respiratory system after exercise. One observation is that there is an increased value in the respiratory rate (Figure 3). This is consistent with other studies which also showed an increase in the respiratory rate (Posner et al, 1992). The increased respiratory rate after exercise ensures that more oxygen is brought into the lungs. An efficient heart can then transport this oxygen to the working muscles. Regarding the gas volume, results showed that it is decreased after exercise (Figure 4). This is supported by recent studies which have looked upon the lung volume after exercise (Van Hoof et al, 1989). The decrease in the gas volume can be attributed to the fact that the muscle of for breathing do not work maximally. It is because during exercise, the priority for the supply of oxygen is given to the muscles at work (gastrocnemius, bicep femoris etc). And lastly, regarding the gas composition, it was observed that there is an increase in CO2 while a decrease in O2 after exercise (Figure 5). The increase in CO2 and decrease in O2 is obvious because after exercise because there is a lot of work done. This work utilized more O2 and produces more CO2 through aerobic metabolism (Posner et al, 1992). Figure 3. Respiratory rate measured in breaths per minute at rest and after exercise (x-axis: subject; y-axis: number of breaths per minute) Figure 4. Gas volume measured in liters per minute at rest and after exercise (x-axis: subject; y-axis: liters of gas per minute) Figure 5. Gas composition of O2 and CO2 at rest and after exercise (x-axis: subject; y-axis: percent composition of gas) Although not observed in the results, there are also some changes in the nervous system after exercise. Physical activity can actually improve cognitive function (Hertzog et al, 2008). Moreover, exercise can also promote protection against neurodegenerative diseases like dementia (Clement et al, 2005). And lastly, exercise can also enhance the release of nerve growth factors, which help the process of neurogenesis (McAuley, 2004). In the report, it is also stated that the students from the football team will go to La Paz, Bolivia for a series of matches during the break. It should be considered that La Paz, Bolivia is located in a high altitude and this might imply some changes in the physiological activity of the body which should be anticipated. It should be noted that at high altitude, there is an oxygen-deficient environment or hypoxia (Green et al, 1992). Oxygen is important in all our physical activities, so its deficiency is very crucial. One of the physiological changes includes the increase in ventilation (Dempsey & Forster, 1982). Ventilation is the process of the movement of air into and out of the lung. This increase in ventilation results from the need to increase the uptake of oxygen in a hypoxic environment. There is also a decline in the cardiac output and stroke volume at high altitude (Grover, Weil & Reeves, 1986). This might be due to decrease the flow of blood to tissue in the body and maximize the use of oxygen since it is deficient. In relation to maximizing the use of oxygen, another effect is that there is an increase in hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration (Heath & Williams, 1977). Hemoglobin is known to be the carrier of oxygen in the blood. Increasing its concentration would also increase the carried oxygen into the body and hence compensate for the deficiency in oxygen. Lastly, body weight loss is also expected (Cerretelli and di Prampero 1985). Both hypohydration and negative energy balance contribute to this experienced body weight loss (Dill et al, 1966). This series of physiological adjustments ensures that the reduction in ambient oxygen is compensated. 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