Throat problems linked to decreased baroreflex sensitivity

Sly Saint · Oct 7, 2024

Patients with throat problems were less able to regulate their blood pressure in a new study led by the University of Southampton.

The study published in JAMA Otolaryngology is the first to observe reduced baroreflex sensitivity in patients with throat symptoms.

The baroreflex is a crucial part of the autonomic nervous system which detects changes in blood pressure and adjusts our heart rate and blood vessel tone accordingly to maintain stable blood pressure. It is what stops us from fainting when we stand up.

Researchers from the University of Southampton and University Hospitals of Dorset Foundation Trust believe the findings could be explained by the Vagas nerve (which controls the autonomic nervous system) prioritising protection of the airways over less urgent functions, such as blood pressure regulation.

"Our immediate survival depends on the throat being able to separate air and food passages each time we swallow," says the lead author of the study Reza Nouraei, Professor of Laryngology and Clinical Informatics at the University of Southampton.

"The throat does this using delicate reflexes, but when these reflexes are disturbed, for example, due to a viral infection like Covid or exposure to reflux affecting nerves in this region, the control of this critical junction becomes compromised, giving rise to symptoms like the feeling of a lump in the throat, throat clearing and coughing.
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Now, and especially since Covid which damages nerves, we are seeing more patients with throat symptoms.

Reduced baroreflex sensitivity impacts survival independent of other cardiovascular risks, so if the association we've discovered is confirmed by future studies, the need to make timely and accurate diagnoses and provide early and definitive treatments will become more pressing."

Reza Nouraei, Professor of Laryngology and Clinical Informatics, University of Southampton
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Throat problems linked to decreased baroreflex sensitivity (msn.com)

Kitty · Oct 7, 2024

The Vagas nerve—is that the one that regulates gambling behaviour?

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Throat problems linked to decreased baroreflex sensitivity

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