The effect of flow limitation on the cardiorespiratory response to arousal from sleep under controlled conditions of chemostimulation in healthy older adults

Abstract

The influence of flow limitation on the magnitude of the cardiorespiratory response to arousal from sleep is of interest in older people, because they experience considerable flow limitation and frequent arousals from sleep. We studied older flow-limiting subjects, testing the hypothesis that the cardiorespiratory activation response would be larger when arousal occurred during flow limitation, compared to no flow limitation, and chemical stimuli were controlled. In 11 older adults [mean±standard deviation (SD) age: 68±5years] ventilation was stabilized using continuous positive airway pressure, and flow limitation was induced by dialling down the pressure. Partial pressure of end-tidal carb..