Moderate SR lowers SBP and PP in postmenopausal women with elevated baseline levels more than does daily walking. The greater blood pressure reductions with SR may be mediated in part by a decrease in the stiffness of the large elastic arteries.
The experimental goals were to determine if regular low-intensity aerobic exercise reduces 24-hour arterial blood pressure in middle-aged and older (aged 50 years or older) humans with mild diastolic (90-105 mm Hg) essential hypertension and, if so, whether this is accurately reflected by changes in casual recordings made at rest Fourteen subjects walked 3 -4 days/wk for 6 months, with 10 exercising an additional 6 months; 12 other subjects served as nonexercising controls. In the exercising subjects, maximal oxygen consumption increased 7-14% (p<0.05) with little or no change in body weight or fat Conventional casual readings of systolic, mean, and diastolic arterial pressure at rest were lower (5-10 mm Hg,p<0.05) in all body positions after 6 months of exercise and changed little thereafter. Casual recordings made during additional circulatory measurements showed 6-month decreases of only half this magnitude and were specific to a particular blood pressure phase and body position; however, all changes were significant after 12 months of exercise. The reductions in arterial pressure at rest were associated with decreases in heart rate (p<0.05) and cardiac output (/?<0.05). Ambulatory-determined 24-hour arterial pressure was unchanged after 6 months of exercise, but mean levels were slightly lower (4 mm Hg, p<0.05) after 12 months due to reductions in daytime (7 mm Hg,/?<0.05) and nighttime (4 mm Hg, NS) systolic pressure; diastolic pressure was unchanged throughout the year of training. In the controls, conventionally recorded casual blood pressure levels were lower after 6 months (p<0.05), but no other changes were observed in any other variable over the 12 months of study. We conclude 1) regular low-intensity aerobic exercise at best produces only small reductions in 24-hour levels of arterial pressure in middle-aged and older humans with mild (diastolic) essential hypertension and 2) trainingassociated changes in casually determined blood pressure at rest are dependent on the measurement conditions and, most importantly, do not necessarily reflect the magnitude or even the direction of changes in arterial pressure throughout an entire day. (Hypertension 1991;18:583-592)A rterial blood pressure rises with advancing age / \ in industrialized societies. 12 This contributes A. \ -to the increased risk of cardiovascular disorders such as stroke and ischemic heart disease in older people. in younger patients. 8 Thus, nonpharmacological interventions have been recommended as an initial approach for older patients with mild-to-moderate blood pressure elevations.
6Regular physical exercise lowers arterial pressure at rest by 7-9% (8-10 mm Hg) on average in young and middle-aged hypertensive humans, 9 "12 but its influence in older people is less well documented. Recently Hagberg et al 13 reported that 3 months of low-intensity aerobic exercise training reduced arterial pressure at rest by 8-12 mm Hg in middle-aged and older men and women with mild essential hypertension; an additional 6 months of training produced fu...
Fat-free mass (FFM) (primarily skeletal muscle mass) is related to maximal aerobic capacity among healthy humans across the adult age range. The basis for this physiological association is assumed to be a direct relation between skeletal muscle mass and its capacity to consume oxygen. We tested the alternative hypothesis that FFM exerts its influence on maximal aerobic capacity in part via an association with central circulatory function. To do so, we analyzed data from 103 healthy sedentary adults aged 18–75 yr. FFM was strongly and positively related to maximal oxygen consumption ( r = 0.80, P < 0.001). FFM was also strongly and positively related to supine resting levels of blood volume ( r = 0.79, P < 0.001) and stroke volume ( r = 0.75, P < 0.001). Statistically controlling for the collective influences of blood volume and stroke volume abolished the tight relation between FFM and maximal oxygen consumption ( r = 0.12, not significant). These results indicate that 1) FFM may be an important physiological determinant of blood volume and stroke volume among healthy sedentary adult humans of varying age; and 2) this relation between FFM and central circulatory function appears to represent the primary physiological basis for the strong association between FFM and maximal aerobic capacity in this population. Our findings suggest that sarcopenia (loss of skeletal muscle mass with aging) may contribute to the age-related decline in maximal aerobic capacity primarily via reductions in blood volume and stroke volume rather than a direct effect on the oxygen-consuming potential of muscle per se.
The decrease in resting blood pressure in older adults with stage 1 or 2 essential hypertension in response to regular aerobic exercise is associated with an increase in peak limb vascular conductance, which could be due in part to favorable changes in arterial structure. These exercise-induced functional and, possibly, structural changes are not confined to the exercise-trained limbs, but rather are more systemic in nature. These apparent beneficial changes in limb vasodilatory capacity and vascular structure can be produced with a mode, intensity, and frequency of aerobic exercise that can be tolerated and is commonly performed by older adults.
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