Physical exercise and blood pressure

Posted on July 11, 2009
Filed Under Hypertension |

Physical exercise helps control blood pressure in elderly
Research carried out in the U.S. to evaluate the effect of physical exercise in elderly patients on blood pressure, recently published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine concludes that a program of 6 months of aerobic and resistance training lowered the pressure more diastolic (lower) but not systolic (high) in elderly people with mild hypertension than in patients who did not have high blood pressure.

The researchers suggest that the elderly may have difficulty in reducing high blood pressure (systolic) due to the aging of their rigidity and large arteries, such as the aorta. Another interesting finding of this study was that body composition, especially the percentage of body fat, can be improved with exercise and that this improvement was associated with reductions in low blood pressure (diastolic) and could be a way to explain how physical training improves cardiovascular health of the elderly.

Effect of Exercise on Blood Pressure in Older Persons. A randomized controlled trial. Kerry J. Stewart, Anita C. Basher, Catherine L. Turner, Jerome L. FLEG larch ET. Inter. Med 2005; 165: 756-762
In the same vein, another study recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine assessed the most common features of elderly people who exercise on a regular basis and discussed the difficulties that can present these people to develop their physical activity.

Half of those surveyed did regular physical activity, demonstrating that factors such as male gender, younger age, to travel independently, better functional capacity, consuming fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, among others, are positively associated with the practice of exercise. On the contrary, the fact of suffering from certain health problems such as arthritis, heart disease or low back pain, limited physical activity significantly. The authors conclude by recommending a lifestyle as healthy as possible, including physical exercise on a regular basis.

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