Cardiovascular responses to breath-holding with or without face immersion in young adults

Abstract

Cardiovascular responses to breath-holding in air and breath-holding with face immersion in water were studied in 15 subjects aged 20 – 30 years. Cardiovascular responses were determined by measuring changes in heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Measurement were made before and shortly toward the end of 60 seconds breath-holding with or without face immersion.
The result show a significant fall in HR from the control value of 78.9 ± 2.3 beats min-1 to 62.5 ± 2.6 beats min-1 (P<0.01) during breath-holding with face immersion. SBP increased significantly (P<0.05) during breath-holding with or without face immersion, though the magnitude of the increase was higher in breath-holding alone. DBP responses was characterised by an insignificant increase during breath-holding and face immersion and a significant (P<0.01) increase during breath-holding in air.
We conclude therefore that bradycardia occur during breath-holding with or without face immersion, the pressure responses is characterized by an increase in blood pressure, but abated during face immersion. However, chronotropic responses are stronger than the vascular responses