Characteristics of the functioning of the cardio-respiratory system and autonomic regulation in para-athletes with spinal injury

The functional state in wheelchair basketball players with damage to the vertebral column in the area of T ₆-T ₁₀ and paraplegia was studied. The subjects were 26.6 ± 1.7 years old on average (n = 9). Control subjects were disabled persons who led an active life, with a mean age of 44.5 ± 2.6 years (n = 13), athletes with a mean age of 24.6 ± 1.3 years (n = 14), and healthy physically active men with a mean age of 24.9 ± 0.6 years (n = 15). In wheelchair athletes, the body length in the sitting posture, the respiratory volume, and the performance of respiratory tests were increased. These changes in the musculoskeletal apparatus and the systems providing autonomic regulation of motor activity may be regarded as adaptive modifications due to physical training. In the cardiovascular system of para-athletes and its autonomic regulation, attenuation of an increase in the diastolic arterial pressure value induced by injury and an elevation of sensitivity of arterial baroreflex, which had been decreased due to damage to the vertebral column, were observed. These data indicate compensatory processes adjusting the functioning of the cardiovascular system via the mechanisms of baroreflex regulation.