Reflecting on posture

Abstract

Cardiovascular parameters are most often assessed at rest, and in many cases in the supine position. This generally facilitates measurement procedures and obviates the need to account for external and usually complex confounding factors, other than those related to the inherent physiology being investigated. Although the supine resting position may be relevant for some part of circadian living, a large part of human activity is characterized by locomotion and the upright posture. Physiological adaptations to locomotion are studied under controlled conditions and at varying degrees of exercise. However, although primary measures of basic physiological quantities (e.g. stroke volume) can be obtained with some level of confidence at rest in supine position, it becomes extremely difficult to measure them during exercise, and so they are generally derived from other measurable quantities, with the associated errors. Notwithstanding this, the large body of work done so far on the physiological response to exercise has been extremely beneficial in elucidating both underlying and adaptive mechanisms for the function of the circulatory system. On the other hand, assessment of the changes occurring in cardiovascular variables when shifting from supine to standing is the procedure most commonly adopted to explore the response of cardiovascular control mechanisms to gravitational challenges, both when investigating physiological adaptations to the upright posture in healthy individuals and when assessing alterations in cardiovascular regulation in patients with a variety of diseases.