Exercise devices – Support for entire body of user – Suspension device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-20
2003-07-15
Richman, Glenn E. (Department: 3764)
Exercise devices
Support for entire body of user
Suspension device
C482S121000, C482S123000, C601S023000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06592502
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to method and apparatus for enhancing the status of physical and cardiovascular health in the human body as well as for evaluating the current status of cardiovascular health therein, and more particularly to method and apparatus for enhancing blood flow generally through the whole cardiovascular system via enabling safe and beneficial high levels of aerobic exercise for the human body, and in addition, for providing safe means for cardiovascularly stressing a heart patient while quantitatively measuring his or her physical and cardiovascular capacity.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Cardiovascular disease kills four out of ten Americans. Often cardiovascular rehabilitation is prescribed in an effort to prolong the lives of heart patients. Conventional cardiovascular rehabilitation treatment protocols generally comprise prescribed forms of nominally aerobic exercise. For instance, walking is often prescribed. This is often done on an instrumented treadmill in combination with simple health monitoring steps such as taking blood pressure both before and immediately following exercise in order to document and verify results. Such cardiovascular rehabilitation protocols often additionally comprise various forms of mild resistance training in spite of the fact that such forms of exercise are commonly observed to elevate blood pressure. Apparently this is done in the belief that such measured exposures to cardiovascular stress better prepare heart patients for the unpredictable stressful events that they will face in the future during normal conduct of their lives. In spite of that hopeful opinion as well as various studies showing somewhat longer life expectancy for so cardiovascularly stressed heart patients, it is believed herein that any form of resistance training is undesirable for heart patients. As is fully explained hereinbelow, that opinion is based upon the fact that such resistance training is conducted, at least in part, in an anaerobic manner. As will be described below, this comes about as a result of the phenomenon of blood flow through stressed muscle tissue being inhibited.
At the opposite end of the cardiovascular health spectrum, athletes are often directed to engage in high intensity forms of anaerobic exercise such as sprinting and resistance training. In these cases the various forms of high intensity anaerobic exercise are usually performed with the actual intent of “tearing down” muscle tissue. The benefits are supposed to come as a part of a rebuilding process during a day or more of recovery before the next exercise session. Weight lifting is a good example of this. However, weight lifting, and especially power lifting, is accompanied by extremely high blood pressure (i.e., with values such as 230/150 being commonplace). Even other forms of upright exercise (i.e., such as distance running) intended to be aerobic in nature, are accompanied by somewhat elevated blood pressure (i.e., with values such as 170/100 being commonplace). It is believed herein that experiencing such anaerobic exercise or elevated blood pressure values, other than on an occasional basis, is harmful to the cardiovascular system. It is further believed herein that experiencing such elevated blood pressure values while exercising is counter-productive to optimum muscle development. A basic understanding of the cardiovascular system is helpful in understanding these phenomena.
Most discussions about the cardiovascular system begin with the heart. However, other than noting that the heart comprises right and left halves respectively serving pulmonary and systemic circulation systems, it is appropriate to start with the systemic circulation system where the work of the cardiovascular system is actually accomplished. Oxygenated blood is distributed throughout the body via the arteries. The arteries are elastic tubes comprising a circumferentially stressed muscle layer. This volumetrically compliant structure allows the arterial system to act like an accumulator. The arterial system absorbs the volumetric impulses of blood generated by the heart. Then arterial compliance maintains non-zero blood pressure values between the heart's blood ejection periods. The maximum pressure value achieved during blood ejection is known as systolic blood pressure while the minimum pressure reached just prior to pumping events is known as diastolic blood pressure. This accumulator-like behavior keeps a continuing flow of blood moving in serial fashion through arterioles, capillaries and venules on its way to the venous system and eventual return to the heart. “Normal” blood pressure is considered to be something like 120[mm Hg] over 80[mm Hg].
In addition to their accumulator-like function, the arteries serve as a system of pipelines distributing oxygenated blood throughout the body and suffer little pressure drop due to blood flow. On the other hand, the blood next flows through arterioles that present the greatest resistance to blood flow and are utilized hydro-mechanically as regulators of blood flow through various portions of the body. As a result they act cumulatively as regulators of blood pressure as well. The arterioles comprise a thin muscle sheath functionally able to change arteriole diametral size over a range of about 4:1 in response to commands from cardiovascular control centers in the brain. Blood flow through the arterioles obeys laminar flow laws whereby blood flow resistance varies according to a fourth power law with reference to arteriole diametral size. Thus, blood flow resistance therethrough can be varied over a range of about 256:1.
In addition to the variable blood flow resistance of the arterioles, overall blood flow resistance is varied by the percentage of capillaries conveying blood at any given time. Precapillary sphincter muscles guard the origin of each capillary. At rest most of the precapillary sphincter muscles are closed. During exercise, more precapillary sphincter muscles juxtaposed to working muscles become dilated in response to commands from the cardiovascular control centers in the brain and capillary blood flow increases dramatically in those areas. The blood does its basic work of exchanging oxygen and nutrients for carbon dioxide and various waste materials in the capillaries. They are quite small, averaging about 8 microns (0.0003 inch) in diameter (e.g., about one eighth the size of an average human hair). However, there are an enormous number of capillaries, perhaps as many as 2,500 per square millimeter of muscle tissue. In any case, the used blood is next collected from the capillaries by small veins called venules and conveyed to the venous system for return to the heart.
As opposed to the arteries, the veins are not simply open tubes heading back toward the heart. Rather, they are thin walled vessels many of whom comprise semilunar folds oriented in the direction of blood flow. The folds serve as check valves operating in sympathy with surrounding muscular activity. The smallest muscular contractions cause waves of vein compression. This in concert with the valves causes the veins to act as progressive pumps helping the venous blood flow back toward the heart. If a subject individual stands quite still, the venous blood pressure in the lower legs will approximate 100 [mm Hg] as opposed to about 8 [mm Hg] at the heart and about 0 [mm Hg] at the neck. As the subject individual commences walking, the venous blood pressure in the lower legs will drop to about 30 [mm Hg] because of this pumping action. Thus, blood pooling in the lower extremities is avoided and the difference between lower leg arterial and venous blood pressure increases by about 70 [mm Hg] as a consequence of the contractions of the leg muscles themselves.
All of the blood returning from the body via the venous system is conveyed to an upper right heart chamber called the right atrium. The pumping action of the venous system a
Gifford, Krass, Groh Sprinkle, Anderson & Citkowski, P.C.
Richman Glenn E.
RLE Corporation
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