The relationship of oxidative stress and cholesterol with dipping status before and after aerobic exercise training

The Association Between 24-Hour Blood Pressure Profiles and Dementia

Midlife hypertension increases risk for dementia. Around one third of adults have diagnosed hypertension; however, many adults are undiagnosed, or remain hypertensive despite diagnosis or treatment. Since blood pressure (BP) follows a circadian rhythm, ambulatory BP monitoring allows for the assessment of BP over a 24-hour period and provides an important tool for improving the diagnosis and management of hypertension. The measurement of 24-hour BP profiles, especially nocturnal BP, demonstrate better predictive ability for cardiovascular disease and mortality than office measurement. However, few studies have examined 24-hour BP profiles with respect to dementia risk. This is an important topic since improvements in BP management could facilitate the primary prevention of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia. Therefore, this review discusses the evidence linking BP to dementia, with a focus on whether the implementation of 24-hour BP measurements can improve risk prediction and prevention strategies. Pathways linking nocturnal BP to dementia are also discussed as are risk reduction strategies. Overall, limited research suggests an association between 24-hour BP elevation and poorer cognition, cerebral small vessel disease, and dementia. However, most studies were cross-sectional. Further evidence is needed to substantiate 24-hour BP profiles, over and above office BP, as predictors of vascular cognitive impairment and incident dementia.

Exercise-Induced Regulation of Redox Status in Cardiovascular Diseases: The Role of Exercise Training and Detraining

Although low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are beneficial for the organism ensuring normal cell and vascular function, the overproduction of ROS and increased oxidative stress levels play a significant role in the onset and progression of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This paper aims at providing a thorough review of the available literature investigating the effects of acute and chronic exercise training and detraining on redox regulation, in the context of CVDs. An acute bout of either cardiovascular or resistance exercise training induces a transient oxidative stress and inflammatory response accompanied by reduced antioxidant capacity and enhanced oxidative damage. There is evidence showing that these responses to exercise are proportional to exercise intensity and inversely related to an individual’s physical conditioning status. However, when chronically performed, both types of exercise amplify the antioxidant defense mechanism, reduce oxidative stress and preserve redox status. On the other hand, detraining results in maladaptations within a time-frame that depends on the exercise training intensity and mode, as high-intensity training is superior to low-intensity and resistance training is superior to cardiovascular training in preserving exercise-induced adaptations during detraining periods. Collectively, these findings suggest that exercise training, either cardiovascular or resistance or even a combination of them, is a promising, safe and efficient tool in the prevention and treatment of CVDs.

Resistance Exercise Training Is More Effective than Interval Aerobic Training in Reducing Blood Pressure During Sleep in Hypertensive Elderly Patients

Bertani, RF, Campos, GO, Perseguin, DM, Bonardi, JMT, Ferriolli, E, Moriguti, JC, and Lima, NKC. Resistance exercise training is more effective than interval aerobic training in reducing blood pressure during sleep in hypertensive elderly patients. J Strength Cond Res 32(7): 2085-2090, 2018-An appropriate fall in blood pressure (BP) during sleep is known to be related to a lower cardiovascular risk. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of different types of training on hypertensive elderly patients under treatment in terms of pressure variability assessed by the nocturnal decline in BP. Hypertensive elderly subjects under pharmacological treatment were randomly assigned to the following groups: 12 weeks of continuous aerobic training, interval aerobic training (IA), resistance training (R), or control (C). All subjects underwent ambulatory BP monitoring before and 24 hours after the last exercise session. The results were assessed using the mixed effects model. A greater nocturnal decline in diastolic BP compared with the wakefulness period was observed in R in comparison with C (11.0 ± 4.1 vs. 6.0 ± 5.7 mm Hg and p = 0.01) and with IA (11.0 ± 4. vs. 6.5 ± 5.1 mm Hg and p = 0.02). No fall in BP during a 24-hour period was observed in training groups compared with C, perhaps because the subjects were mostly nondippers, for whom the effect of training on BP is found to be lower. In conclusion, resistance training promoted a greater nocturnal fall in BP among hypertensive elderly subjects under treatment compared with IA subjects.

Adherence to Exercise Prescription and Improvements in the Clinical and Vascular Health of African Americans

Improvements in indices of vascular health and endothelial function have been inversely associated with hypertension, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (e.g., myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure), renal failure, and mortality. Aerobic exercise training (AEXT) has been positively associated with improvements in clinical health values, as well as vascular health biomarkers, and endothelial function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether measures of exercise adherence were related to clinical outcome measures and indices of vascular health subsequent to a 6-month AEXT intervention in a middle-to-older aged African American cohort. Following dietary stabilization, sedentary, apparently healthy, African American adults (40 - 71 y/o) underwent baseline testing including blood pressure, flow-mediated dilation (FMD) studies, fasting blood sampling, and graded exercise testing. Upon completion of a supervised 6-month AEXT intervention, participants repeated all baseline tests. Exercise adherence was measured three ways: exercise percentage, exercise volume, and exercise score. There were no significant correlations between the changes in the vascular health biomarkers of the participants and any of the adherence measures. In addition, there were no significant correlations between any of the adherence measures and the clinical values of the participants that had been significantly changed pre-post-AEXT. Participants improved their clinical and vascular health and decreased risk factors for hypertension and cardiovascular disease regardless of their level of adherence to AEXT. Future studies should continue to accurately quantify adherence in order to assess the exercise dose for improvements in vascular and clinical health.

Functional capacity and heart rate response: associations with nocturnal hypertension

Background

Absences of normative, 10–20 % declines in blood pressure (BP) at night, termed nocturnal non-dipping, are linked to increased cardiovascular mortality risks. Current literature has linked these absences to psychological states, hormonal imbalance, and disorders involving hyper-arousal. This study focuses on evaluating associations between nocturnal non-dipping and indices of functional cardiac capacity and fitness.

Methods

The current study was a cross-sectional evaluation of the associations between physical capacity variables e.g. Metabolic Equivalent (MET) and Maximum Heart Rate (MHR), Heart rate reserve (HRR), and degree of reduction in nocturnal systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP), also known as ‘dipping’. The study sample included 96 cardiac patient participants assessed for physical capacity and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. In addition to evaluating differences between groups on nocturnal BP ‘dipping’, physical capacity, diagnoses, and medications, linear regression analyses were used to evaluate potential associations between nocturnal SBP and DBP ‘dipping’, and physical capacity indices.

Results

45 males and 14 females or 61.5 % of 96 consented participants met criteria as non-dippers (<10 % drop in nocturnal BP). Although non-dippers were older (p = .01) and had a lower maximum heart rate during the Bruce stress test (p = .05), dipping was only significantly associated with Type 2 Diabetes co-morbidity and was not associated with type of medication. Within separate linear regression models controlling for participant sex, MHR (β = 0.26, p = .01, R² = .06), HRR (β = 0. 19, p = .05, R² = .05), and METs (β = 0.21, p = .04, R² = .04) emerged as significant but small predictors of degree of nighttime SBP dipping. Similar relationships were not observed for DBP.

Conclusions

Since the variables reflecting basic heart function and fitness (MHR and METs), did not account for appreciable variances in nighttime BP, nocturnal hypertension appears to be a complex, multi-faceted phenomena.

Efeitos do exercício físico no controle da hipertensão arterial em idosos: uma revisão sistemática

O exercício físico é uma das principais terapêuticas utilizadas para o paciente hipertenso, pois reduz a pressão arterial (PA) e os fatores de risco cardiovasculares, diminuindo a morbimortalidade. OBJETIVO: Analisar os efeitos do exercício físico na PA de idosos hipertensos, com base nos resultados de pesquisas empíricas realizadas no período de 2000 a 2010. METODOLOGIA: Revisão sistemática de estudos experimentais, em inglês, português e espanhol, nas bases eletrônicas MEDLINE, PubMed, Lilacs, Cochrane e PEDro, publicados entre 2000 e 2010, utilizando os descritores hipertensão, atividade física, exercício físico, idoso, exercício aeróbio e treinamento de resistência. RESULTADOS: Foram encontrados 19 artigos e incluídos 12 artigos, sendo divididos em categorias temáticas: exercício aeróbico (6 artigos), exercício resistido (4), exercício aeróbico associado ao resistido (2). Entre os exercícios aeróbicos, três artigos evidenciaram redução na pressão arterial sistólica (PAS) e pressão arterial diastólica (PAD). Três artigos afirmam que treinamento resistido reduz significativamente os valores de PAS em repouso e pressão arterial média (PAM), apenas um artigo não registrou uma redução significativa na PAD e frequência cardíaca (FC) de repouso. A utilização dos exercícios aeróbicos associados aos resistidos foram superiores aos demais, pois apontaram reduções significativas na PAS, PAD, PAM e FC de repouso, confirmando as recomendações da VI Diretriz Brasileira de Hipertensão Arterial, mas os estudos em idosos são escassos. CONCLUSÃO: Esta revisão confirma os benefícios oriundos da prática do exercício físico na redução da PA após o exercício em idosos hipertensos.