Publications by authors named "Joshua Bock"

Background: Obesity is a recognized risk factor for heart failure (HF) in people living with HIV. However, among patients with HF, being overweight or having mild to moderate obesity has been associated with significantly improved survival rates compared with those at normal weight-a phenomenon known as the obesity paradox. This paradox has not yet been evaluated in patients with both HIV and HF in the era of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is).

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Nociceptors contribute to the cardiovascular responses during a cold pressor test (CPT). While these responses are lower in females, data suggest that they perceive the CPT as more painful. Thus, we examined sex differences in associations between pain and cardiovascular responses to a CPT (Aim 1) as well as differences between females using (OC), and not using (NC), an oral contraceptive (Aim 2).

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Purpose: Experimental sleep disruption in healthy adults is more deleterious to immune function in females relative to males; however, it remains unknown if this translates to patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Thus, this study explored sex differences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with untreated OSA.

Methods: Participants completed sleep studies to identify the presence of OSA via the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI).

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Purpose: Cardiovascular health disparities are present in African Americans, but it remains unknown whether this phenomenon affect Somali Americans. Study of Somali Americans is warranted due to distinct genetic and cultural differences from African Americans of western African ancestry. Orthostatic hemodynamic responses have implications for cardiovascular risk, especially among African American females.

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Purpose: Studies have elucidated that heart failure (HF) in people living with HIV manifests differently when compared with HF cases in the general population. This cohort aimed to examine the mortality risk factors, including biological and social factors, as well as suitable medical interventions to prevent death in this population.

Participants: The New York City Health+Hospitals HIV Heart Failure (NYC4H) cohort encompassed records from 11 major hospital sites.

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Introduction: Cardiovascular health disparities are present within several minority communities, but it is unclear if such disparities are present in a growing African American subpopulation, Somali Americans, who differ genetically and culturally from African Americans of Western African ancestry. Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring remains a gold standard measure to examine 24-h BP patterns to stratify cardiovascular risk profile. We sought to examine differences in the 24-h BP profile in a sample of young Somali Americans and compare their BP patterns to White study participants.

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Objective/background: Microbes within the gastrointestinal tract have emerged as modulators of the host's health. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by intermittent partial, or complete, airway closure during sleep and is associated with increased risk of non-communicable diseases as well as dysbiosis of the gut microbiome. Thus, we investigated if improving nocturnal airway patency via positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy improves gut microbial diversity in recently diagnosed patients with moderate-to-severe OSA (apnea-hypopnea index ≥15.

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Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have a heightened risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, namely hypertension. While seminal evidence indicates a causal role for sympathetic nerve activity in the hypertensive phenotype commonly observed in patients with OSA, no studies have investigated potential sex differences in the sympathetic regulation of blood pressure in this population. Supporting this exploration are large-scale observational data, as well as controlled interventional studies in healthy adults, indicating that sleep disruption increases blood pressure to a greater extent in females relative to males.

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Identifying the best analytical approach for capturing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using accelerometry is complex but inconsistent approaches employed in research and surveillance limits comparability. We illustrate the use of a consensus method that pools estimates from multiple approaches for characterising MVPA using accelerometry. Participants (n = 30) wore an accelerometer on their right hip during two laboratory visits.

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Background: Increased wave reflections assessed by pulse wave analysis (PWA) was proposed as one of the potential culprits of hypertension seen in women with pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH). However, this statement has never been confirmed with "Wave Separation Analysis" (WSA), a more sophisticated mathematical approach that analyzes the amplitude and interaction between forward and backward aortic pressure waveform components.

Objective: To characterize potential changes in pressure wave components of PAH compared to healthy non-pregnant (NP) women and women with normal pregnancies (HP) by using WSA and compared these findings with PWA-derived indexes; secondarily, to evaluate differences in WSA-derived indexes between subgroups of PAH (i.

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Nitric oxide (NO) stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. However, NO metabolism is disrupted in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) potentially contributing to their decreased cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e.

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Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have reduced exercise capacity, indexed by lower maximal oxygen consumption (V̇o) and achievement of the gas exchange threshold (GET) at a lower % V̇o. The ubiquitous signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO) plays a multifaceted role during exercise and, as patients with T2DM have poor endogenous NO production, we investigated if inorganic nitrate/nitrite supplementation (an exogenous source of NO) improves exercise capacity in patients with T2DM. Thirty-six patients with T2DM (10F, 59 ± 9 yr, 32.

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Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have increased cardiovascular risk due to elevated blood pressure (BP). As low levels of nitric oxide (NO) may contribute to increased BP, we determined if increasing NO bioavailability via eight weeks of supplementation with beetroot juice containing inorganic nitrate/nitrite (4.03 mmol nitrate, 0.

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Objective: To determine whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) adherence reduces health care-related costs or use in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and comorbid cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Patients: A total of 23 million patients with CVD were identified in the Medicare fee-for-service database. Of the 65,198 who completed a sleep study between January 2016 and September 2018, 55,125 were diagnosed as having OSA and 1758 were identified in the 5% Medicare durable medical equipment (DME) database.

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Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is classically viewed as a consequence of insufficient sleep or a symptom of sleep disorders. Epidemiological and clinical evidence have shown that patients reporting EDS in tandem with sleep disorders (e.g.

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Background & Aims: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is characterized by elevated blood pressure (BP), low nitric oxide availability (NO), and exaggerated pressor responses to sympatho-excitatory stressors. Inorganic nitrate reduces peripheral BP in healthy and chronically diseased populations. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of eight-weeks of sodium nitrate (NaNO) supplementation on indices of BP in PAD patients.

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Ambulatory overnight oximetry (OXI) has emerged as a cost-effective initial test for sleep disordered breathing. Obesity is closely associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); however, whether body mass index (BMI) or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) predicts abnormal overnight OXI remains unknown. We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of 393 men seen in the Executive Health Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota who underwent ambulatory overnight OXI ordered by preventive medicine physicians between January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2010.

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Aims: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have reduced vasodilatory responses during exercise partially attributable to low nitric oxide (NO) levels. Low NO contributes to greater α-adrenergic mediated vasoconstriction in contracting skeletal muscle. We hypothesized boosting NO bioavailability via 8wks of active beetroot juice (BR, 4.

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While the contribution of several physiological systems to arterial blood pressure regulation has been studied extensively, the role of normal and disrupted sleep as a modifiable determinant of blood pressure control, and in the pathophysiology of hypertension, has only recently emerged. Several sleep disorders, including sleep apnea and insomnia, are thought to contribute to the development of hypertension, although less attention is paid to the relationship between sleep duration and blood pressure independent of sleep disorders per se. Accordingly, this review focuses principally on the physiology of sleep and the consequences of abnormal sleep duration both experimentally and at the population level.

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Purpose: We sought to determine if individually calibrated machine learning models yielded higher accuracy than a group calibration approach for physical activity intensity assessment.

Methods: Participants (n = 48) wore accelerometers on the right hip and nondominant wrist while performing activities of daily living in a semistructured laboratory and/or free-living setting. Criterion measures of activity intensity (sedentary, light, moderate, vigorous) were determined using direct observation.

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Purpose: Excessive daytime sleepiness is highly prevalent and has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, but evidence for its association with cardiovascular mortality is limited and inconsistent. We aimed to determine whether excessive daytime sleepiness is independently associated with cardiovascular mortality in general adult population.

Patients And Methods: A prospective study of 10,330 adult participants (aged ≥20 years) from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006 and 2007-2008 was followed up until December 31st, 2015.

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