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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
An Alternative to the Traditional Cold Pressor Test: The Cold Pressor Arm Wrap
Published on: January 16, 2014
Effects of advanced aging on plasma catecholamine responses to the cold pressor test
M Pascualy1, E C Petrie, K Brodkin
1Northwest Network Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Seattle, WA, USA.
Abstract:
Increased basal norepinephrine (NE) concentrations have been demonstrated repeatedly in human aging, but these studies have included almost exclusively "early aging" subjects younger than age 75. We asked if "advanced aging" (over age 80) enhanced the effects of early aging on plasma NE and epinephrine (EPI) concentrations at rest and in response to the cold pressor test (CPT). Eight medically well, cognitively intact advanced aging subjects (84.4+/-0.9 years), 28 medically well cognitively intact early aging subjects (70.3+/-1.3 years), and 19 medically well young subjects (25.4+/-0.9 years) were studied. Both basal NE and the acute NE increase after CPT were significantly higher in advanced aging than in either early aging or young subjects. Plasma EPI concentrations were higher in the advanced aging group than in the other groups and an acute plasma EPI increase after CPT occurred only in the advanced aging group. These results suggest specific effects of advanced aging on both the sympathoneural and sympathoadrenomedullary components of the sympathetic nervous system.
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