Metabolic Measurements Graph
Activity 3: Trampoline
Activity 2: Vacuuming (Sorry it's blurry!)
"Activity" 1: Sleeping
Method of taking my blood pressure / respiration: borrowed machine from my dad!
Metabolic Rate Lab Project
I. Introduction: My task for this lab was to measure my metabolic rates in several different situations. First, I needed to get a baseline reading of my respiration, pulse, and blood pressure. Once I had done this 3 times, I averaged the three readings to get a mean. I was to then decide on three activities I would participate in, and create hypotheses as to how I think those readings would be affected upon completion of each activity. Before I get into my hypotheses, I would like to present a quick review of how the circulatory system in relation to these readings.
When blood leaves the heart, it surges into the arteries. This surge makes their elastic walls stretch from the pressure exerted, but they almost immediately return to their normal state. This happens very rhythmically, and it can actually be felt in the form of a pulse. A person can feel this pulse by gently placing his or her fore and middle fingers on the outer border of the palm side of the wrist. So, the pulse itself is actually a measurement of the heart’s rate of beating. Normal pulse rate ranges between 60 and 80 beats per minute. Respiration is the number of breaths a person takes per minute.
Blood pressure is the pressure of blood against the wall of a blood vessel. The instrument used to measure a person’s blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer. There are two measurements to be taken in regards to blood pressure: the systolic pressure, and the diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure is a measurement of the ejection of blood from the heart. This is the “highest” arterial pressure. In contrast, the lowest arterial pressure is the diastolic pressure. This happens when the heart ventricles are relaxing. Normal resting blood pressure for an adult is between 95 and 135 (systolic) / 50-90 (diastolic). High blood pressure is said to be hypertension, while low blood pressure is called hypotension.
Hypertension is extremely dangerous. When blood moves through the arteries at a higher pressure than normal, it can cause a heart attack, stroke, or even kidney failure. High blood pressure is linked to atherosclerosis, which is a disease in which plaque builds up in the lumen of the blood vessel and this interferes with the flow of blood. Stroke, heart attack, and aneurysm are also associated with high blood pressure. A stroke happens when a small cranial arteriole bursts or is blocked by an embolus (clot in the blood). Lack of oxygen causes a portion of the brain to die, and it results in paralysis or death. A heart attack occurs when a portion of the heart muscle dies due to a lack of oxygen. Finally, an aneurysm is a ballooning of a blood vessel, most often the abdominal artery or an artery leading to the brain. There are several things that contribute to high blood pressure, such as a diet high is salt, genetics, age, lifestyle (lack of exercise), and weight.
2. My Hypotheses: I always found it very interesting that my father, even at rest, has incredible “swings” in his blood pressure. So, for my lab, I decided to do three activities that varied in the amount of energy I was expending. I had been told by a physician once that your basal body temperature is lowest right before you get out of bed in the morning. I wanted to see if the same was true for blood pressure. So, because I took my “resting” measurements in the middle of the day, I decided to track my blood pressure , pulse, and respiration when I first wake in the morning. My first hypothesis, then, is that my pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure will be lower / lowest in the morning, just before leaving bed. I then wanted to find and “intermediate” activity that would allow me to expend an intermediate level of energy. I chose vacuuming my house. My first reason was because my vacuum is extremely heavy, and I know that I expend energy maneuvering it around the house to vacuum several rooms. Hypothesis #2 was that my pulse, respiration and blood pressure would increase during this activity. Finally, to expend a good deal of energy to see how it affects my metabolism, I decided to jump on our trampoline for ten minutes. Hyposthesis #3: My pulse, respiration, and blood pressure would all increase and be at their highest during this activity, when I was exerting the most energy.
3. Materials and Methods: Please see pictures above with corresponding captions.
4. Metabolic Rate Data Table
Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Rep 4 Rep 5 MEAN
Baseline
Pulse 84 73 77 76 76 77
Respiration 24 24 22 26 28 25
Systolic 108 102 110 106 108 107
Diastolic 67 83 64 73 69 71
Sleeping
Pulse 76 76 75 76
Respiration 24 22 24 23
Systolic 111 110 110 110
Diastolic 63 54 60 59
Vacuuming
Pulse 84 94 95 91
Respiration 26 26 26 26
Systolic 124 120 128 124
Diastolic 110 102 78 97
Trampoline
Pulse 102 105 103 103
Respiration 40 40 40 40
Systolic 126 136 134 132
Diastolic 66 80 76 74
(Since pictures will not insert in the correct places in this blog, please see above for my graph of each activity and my metabolic measurements.)
5. Analysis of Data
Hypothesis 1: My pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure will be lower / lowest in the morning, just before leaving bed.
Results: Half correct, half incorrect! With my mean being 110/59, my diastolic measurement was the lowest of all activities, including my baseline measurements, but my systolic number was 3 points higher than my baseline systolic measurement. Even so, the systolic number WAS lower than when I was vacuuming and when I jumped on the trampoline. My respiration was also the lowest of all other activities (including baseline), so my hypothesis was correct in this regard, as well.
Hypothesis 2: My pulse, respiration and blood pressure would increase during the vacuuming of several rooms of my house, and be the second highest of the four.
Results: My hypothesis was correct! With the mean being 124/97, both numbers were higher than my baseline and from when I first wake up in the morning. My respiration was also higher.
Hypothesis 3: My pulse, respiration, and blood pressure would all increase and be at their highest during the last activity: jumping on the trampoline for 10 minutes.
Results: Half correct, half incorrect! While my systolic measurement was the highest of all activities at 132, (which would make part of the hypothesis correct), I was shocked to learn that my diastolic number was actually LOWER than it was when I was vacuuming. In fact, it was significantly lower. (97 vacuuming and 74 on the trampoline.) My respiration was the highest of all activities, so my hypothesis was correct in this regard.
6. Problems with Your Data or Technique: At first, I figured the blood pressure machine must have malfunctioned or something, I considered re-doing all three repetitions on the trampoline, but then I remembered Professor Frolich’s words: “Be true to your data”. The machine wouldn’t have malfunctioned all three times, and my numbers were pretty comparable, overall, so I am going with them. Then, I tried to figure out reasons why the lower number would be off like that. I thought that it may be possible that I actually “worked” harder pushing the vacuum around than I did jumping. I think that it is different kinds of “work”. Jumping on the trampoline is great for getting your pulse and respiration up, but it really isn’t that difficult. However, pushing the vacuum around is actually a little strenuous! (I know… it sounds ridiculous.) But really, the machine itself is very, very heavy. It is not easy to maneuver, and I have several rooms in my house that get vacuumed in one “session”. I also wondered if heat affects your blood pressure in any way. When I was jumping on the trampoline, it was evening; there was a breeze outside and it was actually nice. However, when I was vacuuming my house, it was about 80 degrees and I was holding my 1 year old daughter during parts of it. I’m not sure, but I guess it may be possible that I was actually exerting more energy during this activity. All in all, I don’t know why the results were different than I expected, but my overall hypothesis was only half correct. Same goes for my diastolic measurement being higher than my baseline reading for the activity of sleep. For the life of me, I can’t figure that one out. ?
7. In conclusion, I think that, for the most part, the more energy you are exuding, the higher the body’s metabolic rate. I know that my last hypothesis wasn’t altogether proven, but as I’ve said, I’ve also seen my father’s blood pressure change fairly dramatically in a small amount of time without him even moving! There may have been other factors going on with my body that I’m not even aware would change my readings. I jumped on the trampoline on different days, too, so it wasn’t even a one time “thing” that was affecting those readings. I find this discrepancy in my “research” confusing, overall.
In order for our bodies to get the oxygen they need, air is breathed in, and it moves into the lungs through the bronchial tubes until it enters air sacs called alveoli. This diffuses into blood capillaries and then enters the circulatory system. The first thing that receives oxygen in the body is the heart. The veins in the heart then carry carbon dioxide to the lungs to be exhaled. Next, the arteries in the lungs carry the oxygen rich blood to the cells within the hemoglobin. It makes sense to me, then, that when you are exercising, or participating in any activity that requires the expenditure of energy, your heart beats faster. Your respiration increases, because your body is trying to get more oxygen to the cells. Because of both of these things, blood pulses through the arteries faster and harder, and therefore, your metabolic rates increase.
No comments:
Post a Comment