Circulatory and ventilatory effects of exercise in smokers and nonsmokers

Abstract

To evaluate the effects of cigarette smoking on some of the circulatory and ventilatory responses to exercise, a group of young male subjects, 18 smokers and 14 nonsmokers, was studied. Exercise consisted of a standard 5-min bicycle ergometer test that achieved a mean O₂ uptake of 1.44 liters/ min in the 5th min of exercise. There was no difference between smokers and nonsmokers in the O₂ uptake achieved during subsequent maximal exercise. Pulmonary function studies performed on the two groups revealed normal results for each group. There was an oxygen debt accumulation among smokers that was significantly greater (P < 0.001) and this debt represented a greater per cent of the total O₂ uptake. The heart rate at rest and 3 min after exercise in smokers was significantly faster (P < 0.02). These differences do not appear to be related to ventilatory factors and may, therefore, be due to either circulatory or metabolic differences in the two groups. Submitted on August 17, 1962