None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Vascular disease of the lower limbs leads to calf muscle pain and fatigue during walking. This results in a failure to sustain even the mildest physical effort involving the legs and reduces the tolerance of walking profoundly, a major problem that requires urgent treatment. However, the physiological causes of this loss of exercise tolerance are not clear, and in this respect there is even considerable doubt about the importance of blood flow to the legs because it hasn’t been carefully studied. For the first time, this preliminary study will examine the effect that vascular disease in the lower limbs has on the response of blood flow into the legs during a well-controlled exercise task. We will also assess how this blood flow response affects the supply of oxygen to, and pain and fatigue of, the contracting muscles. This information will help scientists and medical specialists design better treatments for vascular disease of the lower limbs.
Interventions
A small group of patients and control subjects will perform calf exercise and the responses of leg blood flow, oxygenation and fatigue will be studied. Calf exercise involves performing five minutes of intermittent contractions of the calf muscle on a custom-built exercise device. Leg blood flow will be measured non-invasively using venous occlusion plethysmography. Oxygen levels in the medial gastrocnemius and soleus muscles will be measured non-invasively using near-infrared spectroscopy. Meas
A small group of patients and control subjects will perform calf exercise and the responses of leg blood flow, oxygenation and fatigue will be studied. Calf exercise involves performing five minutes of intermittent contractions of the calf muscle on a custom-built exercise device. Leg blood flow will be measured non-invasively using venous occlusion plethysmography. Oxygen levels in the medial gastrocnemius and soleus muscles will be measured non-invasively using near-infrared spectroscopy. Measurements of surface electromyopgraphic activity will be used to investigate muscle fatigue. The duration of the study will be approximately two years.
Sponsors
University of Otago
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
35 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
peripheral arterial disease (patient group) no peripheral arterial disease (control)
Exclusion criteria
comorbid conditions, such as uncontrolled hypertension, coronary artery disease and pulmonary disease
Outcome results
None listed