H. Denolin

Physical Activity and Physical Fitness Levels of Belgian Males Aged 40-55 Years

Physical activity during leisure time and on the job have been measured with standardized interview techniques in 1,513 normal men, aged 40-55 years, who were regularly employed in different industries. Physical fitness was simultaneously estimated by measuring the work load at which a heart rate of 150 bpm was reached on a standardized exercise test. The median energy expenditure from leisure time activities above the basal metabolic rate was 195 kcal/day; 19% of these activities were classified as heavy, 37% as moderate and 43% as light intensity. The median energy expenditure from job physical activity was 1,676 kcal/day including basal metabolic rate. The median physical fitness level was 125 W. The leisure time activity score was significantly related to physical fitness through the light and the heavy intensity subscores. Independently, job physical activity was also significantly related to physical fitness. However, both activity scores accounted for only 2% of the variance in physical fitness. The data illustrate an overall low energy expenditure profile of middle-aged normal men and a low order relationship between physical activity pattern and physical fitness.

Physical Activity, Physical Fitness and Cardiovascular Diseases: Design of a Prospective Epidemiologic Study

From November 1976 to September 1978, a total of 3,179 active men, 40-55 years old, were screened for established or possible risk factors. Standard questionnaires were administered to assess psycho-social behavior and physical activity on and off the job. Physical fitness was determined by means of a graded sub-maximal exercise test. Information on coronary heart disease incidence will be collected over a 6-year period. The main objective of the study is to establish prospectively if physical activity and/or physical capacity are independent risk factors. Intercorrelations between fitness, physical activity and other measured variables will bae analyzed. Doppler ultrasound and 24-hour ECG recording for detecting peripheral vascular disease and rhythm disturbances have also been used; their value and role in screening for cardiovascular disease is further discussed.

Functional evaluation of a physical rehabilitation program including breathing exercises and bicycle training in chronic obstructive lung disease.

20 patients suffering from chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) were submitted to a 6-month rehabilitation program including breathing exercises only (A) or coupled with bicycle training (B). Functional results obtained at rest were the following: for A: nonsignificant changes in FRC, RV, FEV1, Raw, Pa O2, pH, Pp, VO2 max SL but significant changes (p less than 0.05)for TLC (+ 214 cm3), VC (+ 171 cm3), DL CO (+ 1.79 ml), Pa CO2 (-2.9 mm Hg). For B: similar changes as for A with additional significant changes in PaO2 (+ 7.4 mm Hg) VO2 max SL (+ 250 ml) and Pp (-4 mm Hg). These results, although minimal, are attributed to improved respiratory muscle strength and improved alveolar ventilation. Exercise training adds an increased ability to sustain higher loads.

Therapeutic Effects of Physical Training in Coronary Heart Disease

The aim of this paper is to review the therapeutic effects of physical training in CHD from the clinical, physiopathological, psychological and social points of view.

Aspects Physiopathologiques de la Circulation Pulmonaire : le Probleme de L’hypertension Pulmonaire Chronique

SummaryThe actual methods of investigation of the cardio-pulmonary function and especially the cardiac catheterization, have allowed to realize great advances in the study of the pulmonary circulation. Accurate notions have been obtained concerning gaseous exchanges, blood flow through the lung and pulmonaries pressures; however the problem of the intra-thoracic blood volume remains vet much discussed.The pressures of the pulmonary circulation are very different from those of the systemic circulation : the arterial pressure is lower and the venous pressure is higher in the first than in the second case; this depends and the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the pulmonary circulation and of the left atrio-venous system.The pressure in the pulmonary artery may be increased secondarily to an augmentation of the pressure in the left auricle, or may increase after a change of the arteriolar resistance. The latter appears either for a considerable increase of the blood flow or for a reduction of t...

La dynamique circulatoire au cours de la persistance du canal artériel et le problème de l’hypertension artérielle pulmonaire

Clinical and hemodynamic studies of 7 cases of patent ductus arteriosus gave us the following results: (1) The pulmonary blood pressures are generally normal in cases of patent ductus arteriosus. (2) However, some patients presenting a patent ductus arteriosus may have a very marked pulmonary hypertension: this hypertension does not depend on the shunt and is very probably primary; it might result from a state of constriction in Ihe small pulmonary vessels; this hypertension provokes in Ihe end irreversible vascular alterations. (3) Patients with a patent ductus arteriosus associated with a pulmonary hypertension present a particular clinical picture: the diastolic component of their murmur is absent; cardiopathy is badly tolerated by them; during an exercise test, they present a deficiency in oxygen of their arterial blood and a decrease of the ratio ot oxygen consumed per liter of ventilation; in some cases there may be cyanosis and clubbing. (4) There is no electrocardiographic pattern characteristic ot the patent ductus arteriosus; very different aspects can be observed. In opposition to common opinions, tracings with a right axis deviation are no exception. Anyway, there is no constant relation between the importance of the shunt and the electric axis deviation.

Modifications du débit cardiaque lors de l’effort chez les sujets normaux et chez les patients atteints de cardiopathies diverses

In healthy subjects, exercise increases cardiac output by 600-900 e.e. per 100 e.e. increase in oxygen consumption. Pulmonary artery pressure hardly changes. In patients with heart failure, increase in cardiac output is smaller, though after compensation figures may approach the normal. Valvular stenosis, mitral as well as pulmonary, reduces in proportion to its severity the increase in cardiac output with exercise. After operation there is often appreciable delay before figures approach the normal. Conditions in constrictive pericarditis arc similar, those in patients with Pagets disease and hyperthyroidism are briefly discussed.

Ventilation alveolaire et espace mort respiratoire

SummaryThe measurement of arterial pCO2 and expired CO2, by means of formula established by Enghoff, Rossier and co., Riley and co., allows to determine alveolar ventilation and physiological dead space, which represent very important functional data in respiratory physiology.The physiological and anatomical dead spaces in healthy subjects at rest are closely related, but they differ notably during hyperventilation, work and in pathological conditions.Variation of physiological dead space results from the fact that it is conditionned by anatomical dead space, by total ventilation, respiratory frequency, intensity of exchange of gases and alveolar ventilation.The existence of these various factors and their susceptibility to vary in opposite direction allows to explain that it is quite impossible to look upon absolute values of physiological dead space as an easy test of pulmonary function.On the other side, repeated measurements in the same subject on two occasions have shown that, despite the fact that s...

La dynamique circulatoire au cours des communications inter-ventriculaires isolées

Studies about hemodynamics in isolated interventricular septal defects show that from the physiological point of view, these congenital malformations represent two different types with transitory forms. The first type is characterized by a small interventricular arteriovenous shunt: the X-ray aspect of the heart is normal or only slightlv modified: the axis of the electrocardiogram is normal or slightly deviated to the left or to the right. In the second type, there is a very important arterio-venous shunt. Such a shunt is responsible for a marked increase of the pulmonary output; the pressures in the right ventricle and in the pulmonary artery are usually normal, the X-ray shows a hypertrophy of the right cavities and a dilatation of the pulmonary artery and its branches; there is a right axis deviation and fairly often trouble in the intra-cardiac conduction. Clinical aspects and prognosis of isolated interventricular septal defects depend essentially on the importance of the arterio-venous shunt existing in this congenital heart disease.

Primary prevention of coronary heart disease by physical activity

The role of physical exercise and fitness in the development and prevention of coronary heart disease is subject to controversy. In reviewing the large number of epidemiological studies that have considered this relationship, we find several problem areas which could explain the inconsistency of published results: there is no single yet precise method for evaluation of the physical activity level of a given population; most studies include only a limited portion of the physical activity spectrum of their total population, and physical activity is interrelated with numerous other coronary risk factors.