Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2020; 115(1): 59-60
Heart Rate Variability as an Indicator of Cardiovascular Risk in Young Individuals
This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Family History of Hypertension Impairs the Autonomic Balance, but not the Endothelial Function, in Young Soccer Players".
The autonomic nervous system, which consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, plays an important role in regulating the functions of several systems in the human body, such as the cardiovascular system. Neural control of the heart is directly related to changes in heart rate and baroreceptor reflex activity, of which oscillation results from environmental stimuli. , These stimuli can lead to heart rate reduction through the parasympathetic nervous system, by decreasing the frequency of sinus node depolarization through the effect of acetylcholine on the cardiac neuroeffector junction. In turn, the sympathetic nervous system promotes an increase in heart rate through the norepinephrine release, which acts through the connection with β-adrenergic receptors, increasing the depolarization rate of the sinus pacemaker. ,
Healthy individuals or athletes, with an intact autonomic nervous system, show a predominance of parasympathetic modulation to the detriment of sympathetic modulation to the heart. On the other hand, in individuals with cardiovascular diseases, such as arterial hypertension, this pattern is reversed, with greater sympathetic modulation and less parasympathetic modulation being observed, which characterizes a picture of cardiac autonomic dysfunction. – This is particularly important, considering that changes in cardiac autonomic modulation and, consequently, in heart rate, can have a direct impact on cardiac output, which can result in BP changes.
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