Feeling lightheaded upon standing up due to initial orthostatic hypotension (IOH), or a transient decrease in blood pressure and increase in heart rate, is a common but poorly understood condition.
In a new study from the University of Calgary, researchers found two simple cost- and drug-free techniques to effectively manage symptoms of IOH.
Currently, there are very few options available to patients with IOH and no drug treatments. The most common recommendations have been to stand up slowly or sit up first before standing.
In the study, the team examined physical maneuvers before or after standing and their efficacy in reducing the drop in blood pressure as well as the symptoms typically seen in IOH patients upon standing.
Study participants included 24 young women (mean age 32 ± 8 years) with a high burden history of fainting immediately after standing and more than four episodes of presyncope or syncope per month.
The 22 study participants completed three sit-to-stand maneuvers including a stand with no intervention (control), and two interventions.
Researchers found that both lower body muscle preactivation (thighs) through repeated knee raises prior to standing (PREACT) and lower body muscle tensing (thighs and buttocks) through leg crossing and tensing immediately after standing (TENSE) effectively improve the blood pressure drop.
This led to a reduction in symptoms upon standing. They found that the PREACT maneuver accomplished this by increasing cardiac output, while the TENSE maneuver did so by increasing stroke volume.
The study provides a novel and cost-free symptom management technique that patients with IOH can use to manage their symptoms.
Since it is a physical maneuver, it simply requires the lower body limbs, which patients can utilize at any time and from anywhere to combat their symptoms.
The study is published in Heart Rhythm and was conducted by Satish R. Raj et al.
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