Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Maintaining metabolic health in the face of physical inactivity or disability presents a clinical conundrum for health care providers and patients alike. Exploration of novel forms of stress, which induce adaptations similar to those seen with physical activity, may help ameliorate a multitude of disease processes in persons with sedentary behaviors. The aim of this thesis is to examine novel forms of stress and systematically investigate the impact mechanical (segmental vibration), physiological (volitional and induced exercise) and environmental (whole body heat stress) stressors have on humans both with and without spinal cord injury. The ability to regulate key genes for metabolic health, improve glucose homeostasis and promote adaptations that may translate into overall systemic health would prove clinically useful. Stress adaptation responses ranging from gene expression to whole body systemic processes were studied in this body of work. Appropriately prescribed stress was shown to have a powerful impact on cells from a “micro” to a “macro” scale. The impact of stress was examined and described in a diverse population, ranging from lean and non-lean individuals with and without chronic SCI. Gene signaling pathways, biomarkers of cardiometabolic and systemic health and glycemic homeostatic mechanisms were shown to be positively impacted by novel forms of stress in this study. This body of research serves as a base upon which further investigation such as chronic adaptation studies can be built. Additionally, this body of knowledge of physiological and glycemic responses to stressors may facilitate implementation of novel therapeutic strategies and better equip rehabilitation specialists for proper dosing and prescription of interventions.
DOI: 10.17077/etd.005171
Language: English
Topic: Spinal Cord Injury Research
Subfield: Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4233919299