Effect of regular exercise on 24-hour arterial pressure in older hypertensive humans.

Abstract

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...

Exercício físico controla pressão arterial e melhora qualidade de vida

“…Our results were different from the ones found in other studies with hypertensive subjects not medicated who presented significant pressure reduction after the intervention period with exercise 1,7,17,19,20 . However, it is worth mentioning that the models of these studies were different from ours concerning in the exercise protocol concerning type, duration, intensity and frequency.…”

The magnitude and duration of ambulatory blood pressure reduction following acute exercise

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Ambulatory monitoring has been used to observe the response to acute exercise 8,9,11,[13][14][15] as well as to physical conditioning. [5][6][7]9,10,12 The findings from the studies that observed the BP following exercise have been inconsistent. Reported findings range from a reduction in systolic pressure, 8,13,15 mean pressure, 15 or diastolic pressures 13,15 to no change.…”

Exercise Capacity and 24-h Blood Pressure in Prehypertensive Men and Women

“…18 -20 Information on BP assessments during a 24-h period in exercise studies is limited and findings inconclusive. Only five relatively small studies [21][22][23][24][25] and one large trial (HARVEST trial) 8 have used ambulatory devices. There are no studies assessing the relationship between ambulatory BP and fitness levels in prehypertensive men or women.…”