Vascular Stiffness

Low energy availability (LEA) occurs when the body does not get enough calories to support both daily life and exercise. This can happen when athletes train hard but do not eat enough to match their energy needs. In both 2012 and 2023, the International Olympic Committee on Sports Nutrition recognized LEA as an important factor that can increase the risk of cardiometabolic disease (CMD), which includes conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. LEA can affect many systems in the body. It may disrupt hormones (such as menstrual cycles), cause changes in blood sugar and cholesterol levels, weaken bones, impair digestion, and negatively impact mental health. Over time, these changes may be linked to chronic inflammation, which plays a key role in the development of disease. Maintaining proper energy balance can be especially challenging for athletes because they often train at levels well above general health recommendations. As a result, even highly fit athletes may unintentionally remain in a calorie deficit. Our recent pilot research found a significant relationship between LEA and high blood pressure in Black Division I collegiate athletes. This is important because this group has historically been understudied and may face a higher risk of serious heart-related events, including sudden cardiac death. Despite assumptions that collegiate athletes are uniformly healthy, there is a need to better understand hidden health risks in this population. Our research aims to improve how we identify and monitor early signs of cardiometabolic disease by examining markers such as inflammation, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels. These insights will help healthcare providers, athletes, and families make more informed decisions about nutrition, training, and long-term health. Ultimately, this work seeks to develop practical, evidence-based strategies to protect athlete health and reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular outcomes.

Hypertension is a common and treatable disorder that remains the leading preventable cause of heart disease. Blood pressure treatment relies mainly on upper arm blood pressure readings and ignores blood vessel physiology and underlying individual genetic information. Older Veterans with hypertension are less likely to be treated to goal blood pressure because there are conflicting recommendations for what constitutes "optimal" in older adults. The investigators have developed a novel way to non-invasively assess the components of blood vessel stiffness that is related to blood pressure (load-dependent stiffness). This project will generate new knowledge about how different blood pressure treatment goals (intensive vs standard) impact different components of arterial stiffness and if these differences can be explained through genetic analysis. Results from this project will offer the VA an updated blueprint for personalizing blood pressure care in older adults, ultimately improving cardiovascular health.

This study will investigate whether various types of regular exercise can provide protective effects against metabolic abnormalities induced by sleep restriction. It will examine responses related to metabolic health, cognitive function, energy expenditure, subjective feelings, and human behaviors, including physical activity and energy intake.

The objective of this study is to assess the effect Spinal Cord Stimulators have toward improving vascular changes of diabetes mellitus in patients eligible for SCS placement based on their condition of painful diabetic neuropathy; we will evaluate improving their disability and quality of life, improving micro-circulatory changes induced by Diabetes Mellitus (DM), improving macro-circulatory changes induced by DM and improving arterial stiffness of the vessels of the lower extremity.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the effectiveness of a prescription wrist-wearable device called NightWare (NW) on improving sleep in Veterans with nightmares related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The investigators also want to learn whether it improves cardiovascular health among this population.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether NightWare therapeutic intervention improves biomarkers of vascular and renal function in premenopausal women with PTSD-related nightmares, and examine whether these improvements restore them to levels observed in age-matched women without PTSD.

This observational study will evaluate the effect of puberty suppression on insulin sensitivity, metabolic rate and vascular health among transgender female youth at baseline and 6 months after initiation of a gondoatropin releasing hormone agonist compared to matched cisgender male controls.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease of the lungs that makes it hard for people to breath. Those with COPD spend considerably more time sitting and lying and less time performing physical activity than healthy individuals. Those who are the most sedentary have a greater risk of heart and blood vessel disease, which may lead to an early death. This project will investigate the effect of sitting still for 3 hours on blood vessel health in individuals with COPD. It will also investigate whether breaking up the amount of time patients sit with regular short bouts of walking (5 minutes each hour) at a comfortable pace chosen by the patient can have a positive effect on maintaining the health of their blood vessels. It is hypothesized that blood vessel health will be worse after 3 hours of sitting compared to when the sitting is broken up by short bouts of walking.

The proposed mechanistic trial will test the effect of dietary sodium reduction on cardiac and vascular structure and function in those with elevated blood pressure or hypertension. Findings from this study will fill the knowledge gap on the underlying mechanisms of dietary sodium intake on cardiovascular disease risk in addition to blood pressure and could provide further evidence on sodium reduction for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Existing data points to relevant beneficial effects of respiratory exercises on cardiovascular health, with special regards to decreases on arterial pressure and improves on autonomic and vascular profiles, though mechanistics of such results have not yet been cleared. Among the available ways to perform respiratory exercises, there is the highly recommended Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) and slow breathing exercises like Yoga pranayamas. Lately, the development of new technologies has allowed the use of Apps to perform respiratory exercises. This study will be take the just developed CardioBreath®App to validate it as a tool to perform respiratory exercises. Therefore, it will be compared to IMT on cardiac vagal modulation and pulse wave velocity on normotensive post menopause women.

The main objective of this study is to test the ability of novel cardiovascular disease (CVD) prognostic tools to identify women at risk for future CVD. We plan to establish a cardiovascular health screening program at the St. Boniface Hospital and to test the efficacy of these tests for predicting adverse cardiovascular outcomes amongst a cohort of 1000 Manitoban women aged 55 years and older in the 5-year period after screening. A second purpose of this project is to identify novel CVD biomarkers that may indicate a person is at risk for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, we plan to ask participants for permission to collect and store a sample of both their blood and stool for future research.