Sex differences in the cardiovascular response to respiratory pressure manipulation during exercise in healthy adults between 19 and 40 years of age

Summary

We are conducting a research study to determine how breathing impacts the heart during exercise and if this is different between males and females. Over a total of 2 visits, you will perform a maximal exercise test (Visit 1) and a series of four submaximal exercise tests (Visit 2). On visit 2, you will have your breathing either made harder (by decreasing the size of the hole you breathe through) or made easier (with a non-invasive mechanical ventilator) while your heart will be scanned by an experienced female sonographer. You will also be instrumented with an esophageal balloon catheter to measure your breathing pressure. We numb the back of your throat and nose and you swallow a thin flexible balloon (the balloon goes down the same place that food does, it does not go into the lungs).