Aortic Stiffness Increased in Spinal Cord Injury When Matched for Physical Activity.

The article reports on research which was conducted to compare arterial stiffness between those with spinal cord injury (SCI) and able-bodied (AB) individuals when matched for habitual level of physical activity. Researchers evaluated 17 SCI and 17 AB individuals who were matched for sex, age, weight, blood pressure, and levels of self-reported habitual physical activity.They found that both large and small artery compliance appear to be associated with habitual physical activity in physically active individuals with SCI. Researchers were unable to show that physical activity is associated with pulse wave velocity in physically active individuals with SCI. They concluded that factors other than physical inactivity may mediate the increase in arterial stiffness widely reported in the SCI population.