Increased systolic blood pressure after mild cold and rewarming: relation to cold-induced thermogenesis and age

摘要

Aim: Higher winter mortality in elderly has been associated with augmented systolic blood pressure (SBP) response and with impaired defense of core temperature. Here we investigated whether the augmented SBP upon mild cold exposure remains after a rewarming period, and whether SBP changes are linked to thermoregulation. Therefore, we tested the following hypotheses: cold-induced increase in SBP (1) remains augmented after rewarming in elderly compared to young adults (2) is related to non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) upon mild cold (3) is related to vasoconstriction upon mild cold.