Introduction Ageing is regarded as a natural process capable of triggering or accentuating the progression of many pathologies. This is true of peripheral vascular disease and microciculatory impairment specially in the lower limb, associated or not with other ongoing diseases (metabolic syndrome, diabetes). Dynamic movement, rather than exercise, is likely one of the most useful, broadly applicable avtivities to prevent or delay the negative impact of ageing on lower limb microcirculation. Aims / Objective To understand the effect of the common dynamic movement of casual walking on foot perfusion in subjects with different ages. Methodology This work involved 49 healthy volunteers, both sexes, healthy with confirmed no signs of peripheral vascular disease (ankle-brachial index =1.07 ± 0.07). Participant data was grouped into Young ( 30 years old), and BMI categories (Normal weight BMI 25). All applied procedures respected the principles of good clinical practice for human studies research. Perfusion was measured by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in both feet 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after a casual walking period in the lab through a predetermined track. After walking, perfusion was measured for another 5 minutes in the recovery period. Age, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were measured. Statistical analysis was performed with a SPSS version 22.0. Parametric or non-parametric tests were performed to assess differences between variables. All tests adopted a 5% significance level. Results and Discussion Within each group, participants were of similar age (Mann-Whitney; p=0.421) but men had a higher BMI (t-test, p25 had a tendency (adjusted for age and sex) to show an increased perfusion post-walking, which might signify increased microcirculatory stress. Conclusions Our results suggest that gait consistently increases foot perfusion, though the impact of walking was not the same for all subjects. Intraindividual resting differences between feet were only significant in men and were reduced, in some cases to the point of disappearance, with gait. Although increased perfusion was independent of sex, variations in the recovery period apparently related to BMI (> 25) were noted.
Physiology 2021 (2021) Proc Physiol Soc 48, PC024
Poster Communications: Regular walking significantly improves foot perfusion independently of age
Margarida Florindo1, Sérgio Nuno2, João Gregório3, Luís Monteiro Rodrigues3
1 CBIOS - Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies, Universidade Lusófona Av Campo Grande, 376, 1749- 024, Lisboa, Portugal; ESSCVP the Portuguese Red Cross Health School. Dep. Physiotherapy | Lisboa, Portugal, Lisboa, Portugal 2 CBIOS - Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies, Universidade Lusófona Av Campo Grande, 376, 1749- 024, Lisboa, Portugal; Clínica S João de Deus – CTD | Lisboa Portugal ; ESTeSL Lisboas’ Polytechnic Institute | Lisboa, Portugal , Lisboa, Portugal 3 CBIOS - Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies, Universidade Lusófona Av Campo Grande, 376, 1749- 024, Lisboa, Portugal, Lisboa, Portugal
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Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.