Heart Rate Variability and Exercise in Aging Women

Abstract

Background: Our group has shown a positive dose-response in maximal cardiorespiratory exercise capacity (VO 2max ) and heart rate variability (HRV) to 6 months of exercise training but no improvement in VO 2max for women ‡ 60 years. Here, we examine the HRV response to exercise training in postmenopausal women younger and older than 60 years. Methods: We examined 365 sedentary, overweight, hypertensive, postmenopausal women randomly assigned to sedentary control or exercise groups exercising at 50% (4 kcal/kg/week, [KKW]), 100% (8 KKW) and 150% (12 KKW) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Panel physical activity guidelines. Primary outcomes included time and frequency domain indices of HRV. Results: Overall, our analysis demonstrated a significant improvement in parasympathetic tone (rMSSD and high frequency power) for both age strata at 8 KKW and 12 KKW. For rMSSD, the age-stratified responses were: control, < 60 years, 0.20 ms, 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.40, 2.81; ‡ 60 years, 0.07 ms, 95% CI -3.64, 3.79; 4 KKW, < 60 years, 3.67 ms, 95% CI 1.55, 5.79; ‡ 60 years, 1.20 ms, 95% CI -1.82, 4.22; 8-KKW, < 60 years, 3.61 ms, 95% CI 0.88, 6.34; ‡ 60 years, 5.75 ms, 95% CI 1.89, 9.61; and 12-KKW, < 60 years, 5.07 ms, 95% CI 2.53, 7.60; ‡ 60 years, 4.28 ms, 95% CI 0.42, 8.14. Conclusions: VO 2max and HRV are independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Despite no improvement in VO 2max , parasympathetic indices of HRV increased in women ‡ 60 years. This is clinically important, as HRV has important CVD risk and neurovisceral implications beyond cardiorespiratory function.

Aerobic Exercise Affects T-wave Alternans and Heart Rate Variability in Postmenopausal Women

“…and HF (n.u.) in this study matched previous short-term ( < 3 m) [ 22 ] and long-term (≧6 m) [ 10 ] observations. However, the other indices, including SDNN, CV, NN50, VLF, LF (ms 2 ), HF (ms 2 ) and LF/HF, decreased, contrary to previous results [ 19 , 34 ] , according to our HRV measurement taken after 21 h. These results are more comparable to shortterm exercise studies on athletes and elderly people [ 3 , 16 ] .…”

“…An adequate exercise-training program may reduce daily stress, regulate body fat metabolism, slow resting heart rate and improve cardiorespiratory capacity, all of which are associated with increased cardiac vagal tone. VO 2max and HRV/MTWA are independent risk factors for CVD mortality [ 10 ] , which have important CVD risk and neurovisceral implications beyond cardiorespiratory function. We also found that HR did not change signifi cantly after training, and no signifi cant diff erence exists between the baseline and after 48 h measurement in the healthy EG of PMW for all bio-indices, including HRV and MTWA.…”

Quantity of Aerobic Exercise Training for the Improvement of Heart Rate Variability in Older Adults

“…17 Audette et al 14 , Jurca et al 10 , Earnest et al 17 Karavirta et al 15 and Shen and Wen 11 probably used women due to the difference in gender and the menopausal period, and in other studies, the volunteers were both male and female. 16,18 There is an interest in the postmenopausal period, and thus some studies included volunteers who were under 60 years old.…”

Diabetes and Technology for Increased Activity Study: The Effects of Exercise and Technology on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors

“…One study in older women showed that exercise improved HRV when 50, 100, or 150% of national exercise guidelines was completed. However, in women aged >60 year, there were no improvements at lower exercise doses, suggesting that a higher dose of exercise may be necessary to evoke autonomic changes in older adults (37). Though our sample was on average older, it included a range of ages.…”