Repeated 45-minute dry immersion sessions in Parkinson's disease patients decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 5-7 mm Hg (p<0.001) during sessions, with no long-term HRV modification.
Does repeated short-term dry immersion affect autonomic function in subjects with Parkinson's disease?
Short-term dry immersion in Parkinson's disease patients acutely decreases blood pressure and increases HRV, but repeated sessions do not lead to long-term autonomic modifications.
Effect estimate: decrease of 5-7 mm Hg
p-value: p=<0.001
Several studies have shown that “dry” immersion appears as a promising method of rehabilitation for Parkinson's disease. Still, little is known about the cardiovascular reaction in “dry” immersion (DI), especially in Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate the effect of repeated 45-min DI sessions on autonomic function in subjects with PD. The study group consisted of 20 subjects with PD 13 men, seven women, aged 51–66 years old, Hoehn Yahr (HY) staged 1–3 were enrolled in the study according to inclusion and non-inclusion criteria. The DI program was comprised of seven 45-min DI sessions, applied within 25–30 days. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and electrocardiogram (ECG) in the standard lead II were recorded at 1st, 4th, and 7th DI, before, on the 15, 30, and 40th min of DI session. Autonomic function was assessed with analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) using Kubios Standard version 2 software. Linear (time- and frequency-domain) and non-linear (correlation dimension, entropies, DFA1 and DFA2, percent of determinism, and recurrence) were computed. At baseline condition, time- and frequency-domain HRV parameters showed low variability of HR, which indicates reduced autonomic neurogenic control of HR. Throughout the DI session, systolic and diastolic BP has decreased by 5–7 mm Hg ( p 0.001), and time- and frequency-domain parameters of HRV have significantly increased, what can be regarded as compensatory mechanisms of hemodynamics during DI. The structure of the regulatory input to the heart seen by HRV was characterized by low complexity and reduced autonomic neurogenic control of HR. Across the program of DI sessions, the hypotensive effect was documented, but no notable modification of the HRV-parameters was found. The absence of long-term modification of the studied parameters can be attributed both to deconditioning environmental effect of DI and limited adaptation of the organism due to neurodegeneration in PD. That should be taken into consideration when planning rehabilitation measures in subjects of older age and chronic somatic diseases with modeled microgravity.
Gerasimova-Meigal et al. (Wed,) conducted a other in Parkinson's disease (n=20). Dry immersion was evaluated on Autonomic function (HRV parameters) and blood pressure (decrease of 5-7 mm Hg, p=<0.001). Repeated 45-minute dry immersion sessions in Parkinson's disease patients decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 5-7 mm Hg (p<0.001) during sessions, with no long-term HRV modification.