For this week’s lab, you will be collecting some baseline information about your personal health and the physiological function of your body. As we will learn next week, this plays an important role in your body’s ability to respond to stress!
Submission Guidelines
For this lab, answer all of the yellow highlighted questions in a Google Doc or in a word processor. This assignment will need to be submitted as pdf. Both Google and Word will let you save your document as pdf.
Grading
To see how this assignment will be graded, scroll down to view the grading rubric. If no rubric is visible, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of this page, then click “Show Rubric”. If you’re reviewing this assignment using the Canvas mobile app, the rubric is included in the Grade tab.
Note: While I am not specifically grading you on your spelling or grammar, scientific communication is an important skill. Please proofread and spellcheck before submitting to ensure that your ideas come across clearly. Up to 10% may be deducted for excessive grammar and spelling errors that affect the readability of your work.
Part 1 – Hypothesizing About Your Health
Lifestyle and Hereditary Risks
Take a minute to think about the following questions:
Do you eat enough fruits and vegetables? Too much salt? Sugar? Fat? Do you exercise enough? Do you smoke? Do you have a family history of Type II diabetes, kidney, or heart disease?
Record your answers to the following questions:
What do you think are your top three lifestyle or hereditary risk factors?
How do you think these risk factors will affect your scores for your risk of developing type II diabetes? Heart disease? Kidney disease?
How do you think these factors will affect your overall cardiovascular fitness?
Environmental Risk
Take a minute to think about the following questions:
Is your neighborhood safe and welcoming for walking? Do you live near a freeway or a very high-traffic road? Is your neighborhood prone to high temperatures in the summer?
Record your answers to the following questions:
What do you think are your top two environmental risk factors?
How do you think these risk factors will affect your scores for your risk of developing type II Diabetes? Heart Disease? Kidney Disease?
How do you think these factors will affect your overall cardiovascular fitness?
Part 2 – Health Risk Testing
1. Measuring your Resting Heart and Respiratory Rates
Your parasympathetic (resting) and sympathetic (fight or flight) systems help regulate your heart and respiratory rates. When you are in a relaxed and resting state, your parasympathetic system is dominant and your heart rate and respiratory rate will be lower. When you are stressed or during exercise the sympathetic system is dominant and these rates increase.
Practice manual pulse: Using your second or third finger feel for your pulse along your carotid artery (carotid pulse). This pulse you are feeling is your blood pressure rising; when your heart contracts it pumps blood out to your body. Count how many heartbeats you feel (your pulse) of 15 seconds and then multiply by 4. Repeat this three times:
Resting Pulse: 1_____________2) _________________3)_______________
Where all three numbers similar?
Next measure your respiratory rate. Count how many breaths you take in 1 minute. The normal respiratory rate is 12-20 breaths per minute at rest. This rate increase with exercise to move more oxygen to the muscles where it is needed.
Resting Respiratory Rate: 1_____________2) _________________3)_______________
2. Waist-to-Hip Ratio
Abdominal fat is more likely than fat stored in other places to cause changes in hormone levels which result in inflammation and clogged arteries. People with apple-shaped bodies (more fat around the abdominal area) develop cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus (all of which can contribute to premature death) more frequently than those with pear-shaped bodies (more fat in the hips, buttocks, and thighs).
Stand up and measure your waist just above the navel. ________________________.
Measure your widest point around your hips or buttocks_______________________.
Divide your waist number by your hip number to get waist-to-hip ratio __________________.
Risk Scores for Waist-to-Hip ratios
Health risk
Women
Men
Low 0.80 or lower 0.95 or lower
Moderate 0.81–0.85 0.96–1.0
High 0.86 or higher 1.0 or higher
Based on the table above, what is your cardiovascular risk?
3. Type 2 diabetes risk
According to the American Heart Association, adults with diabetes are 2-4 times more likely to die of heart disease than those without diabetes. To evaluate your risk, use this test from the American Diabetes Association: Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment
Your score: ____________________________
4. Stress
Chronic stress can affect the other body systems. Ever notice how you often get sick when you are stressed out? The hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) axis regulates homeostasis of the immune response. Communication between the nervous system and the immune system is bi-directional. Long-term stress leads to immune dysfunction which comprises our ability to deal with an infection. It can also cause other health issues and inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, arthritis, asthma, and depression. How stressed are you? Take this 1-minute stress test now.
Take this Stress Test to see what your stress score is: _____________________________.
5. CV Composite Score
From: Fit & Well: Core Concepts and Labs for Physical Fitness
Your chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke before age 55 depend on a variety of factors, many of which are under your control. To help identify your risk factors, circle the response for each risk category that best describes you. Keep track of the number of points associated with each response. There are 8 questions.
Sex and Age
0 Female age 55 or younger; male age 45 or younger
2 Female over age 55; male over age 45
Heredity/Family History
0 Neither parent suffered a heart attack or stroke before age 60.
3 One parent suffered a heart attack or stroke before age 60.
7 Both parents suffered a heart attack or stroke before age 60.
Smoking
0 Never smoked
3 Quit more than 2 years ago and lifetime smoking is less than 5 pack-years*
6 Quit less than 2 years ago and/or lifetime smoking is greater than 5 pack-years*
8 Smoke less than 1⁄2 pack per day
13 Smoke more than 1⁄2 pack per day
15 Smoke more than 1 pack per day
*Pack-years can be calculated by multiplying the number of packs you smoked per day by the number of years you smoked. For example, if you smoked a pack and a half a day for 5 years, you would have smoked the equivalent of 1.5 x 5 = 7.5 pack-years.
Environmental Tobacco Smoke
0 Do not live or work with smokers
2 Exposed to tobacco smoke at work
3 Live with smoker
4 Both live and work with smokers
5. Exercise
0 Exercise three times a week
1 Exercise once or twice a week
2 Occasional exercise less than once a week
7 Rarely exercise
6. Diabetes
0 No personal or family history
2 One parent with diabetes
6 Two parents with diabetes
9 Type 2 diabetes
13 Type 1 diabetes
7. Body Mass Index (Use this tool (link here Link- NIH BMI Calculator)
0 <23.0
1 23.0–24.9
2 25.0–28.9
3 29.0–34.9
5 35.0–39.9
7 >40
8.Stress
0 Relaxed most of the time
1 Occasionally stressed and angry
2 Frequently stressed and angry
3 Usually stressed and angry
Total score __________________
Risk
Refer to the list below to get an approximate rating of your risk of suffering an early heart attack or stroke.
Score Estimated Risk _________________________________
Less than 10 Low risk
10–19 Moderate risk
20–35 High risk
Over 35 Extremely high risk
6. Cardiovascular fitness*
How does exercise impact your health?
Blood pressure has been shown to be reduced after exercise. This is thought to be due to several different physiological mechanisms that are triggered during exercise. Their mechanisms increase blood flow to the muscles by dilating blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow and reducing blood pressure (Chen & Bonham, 2011). This effect on blood pressure can be seen for up to 10 hours! That is why exercise is generally helpful for people trying to lower their blood pressure.
*The step test can be quite demanding; if you have been diagnosed with heart disease, if you suspect you may have heart disease, or if you have major risk factors, ask your doctor about a formal stress test instead of taking the step test. And if you are out of shape or think the test may be hard for you, take a one-minute pretest to see how you fare.
The objective of the Harvard Step Test is to assess cardiovascular fitness by measuring recovery from strenuous exercise.
Procedure:
The test subject steps up and down on a 12″ platform (or use a step or tall curb) at a rate of 24 steps per minute for 3 minutes (it should take about 2 seconds to step up on the platform and back down to the floor) or until exhaustion.
After 1 minute of resting, begin counting the heartbeats for the next 60 seconds: _____________________________
Use you heart rate from 2 and the table below to determine your score category: ____________________________
Step Test Score Assessment
Age
Good – Excellent
Above Average – Average
Fair – Poor
MEN
18–25
84 or lower
85–100
101 or higher
26–35
86 or lower
87–103
104 or higher
36–45
90 or lower
91–106
107 or higher
46–55
93 or lower
94–112
113 or higher
56–65
96 or lower
97–115
116 or higher
Above 65
102 or lower
103–118
119 or higher
WOMEN
18–25
93 or lower
94–110
111 or higher
26–35
94 or lower
95–111
112 or higher
36–45
96 or lower
97–119
120 or higher
46–55
101 or lower
102–124
125 or higher
56–65
103 or lower
104–126
127 or higher
Above 65
105 or lower
106–130 131 or higher
7. Stress Reduction – Mindfulness
Mindfulness is defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. There are studies that support the idea that mindfulness effectively reduces the stress response and studies that refute it. We are going to try it out.
When Science Meets Mindfulness
The practice of mindfulness meditation as a therapeutic technique and alternative to pharmaceuticals has gained popularity in the last decade. Here is an example of a paper that shows mindfulness can actually cause physiological changes!
Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Evans, K. C., Hoge, E. A., Dusek, J. A., Morgan, L., … & Lazar, S. W. (2009). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 5(1), 11-17.
MRI scans show that after an 8-week course of mindfulness practice:
the amygdala shrinks
the prefrontal cortex increases
the connection between the amygdala and the rest of the brain gets weaker
the connections between areas associated with attention and concentration get stronger
Now time to try mindfulness! It is important that you follow the instructions exactly.
Record your resting Heart Rate ____________________
Record your resting Respiratory Rate ____________________
Now participate in this 5-minute guided mediation. This is ideally done in a quiet place if possible.
Record your resting Heart Rate ____________________
Record your resting Respiratory Rate ____________________
Did your rates change after the mediation?
Part 3 – Reflection
What were your top three risk factors that you identified in Part 1?
Based on # 1 above, after doing the testing, do you think you see evidence that any of these are impacting your health currently? How likely will these risk factors impact your health as you age?
What was your cardiovascular fitness score (your step test score)? Is this score close to what you would have predicted? Why do you think this is?
Considering your cardiovascular fitness score, what specific action(s) can you take to improve your cardiovascular health? Find a scholarly/reputable source that supports your proposed action. Provide a proper in-text citation and full reference.
Did you feel any effect from the mindfulness meditation? What do you think is happening at a physiological level?
