OBJECTIVES:The objective of this study was to compare the effects of a combination of aerobic and resistance training to those of isolated aerobic training on blood pressure, body composition, and insulin sensitivity in hypertensive older adults.METHOD:Forty-four patients were randomly assigned to the aerobic group, resistance and aerobic group, and control group. Before and after 10 weeks, the following data were obtained: 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure data, abdominal circumference, waist circumference, body mass index, lean mass, fat mass, and insulin sensitivity. The study was conducted with 3 training sessions per week.RESULTS:Comparison revealed significant reductions in the body mass index, abdominal and waist circumferences, and ambulatory blood pressure (24-hour, wakefulness and sleep systolic/diastolic blood pressures) in both the aerobic group and the resistance and aerobic (combined) group. The fat mass only changed in the combined group. There was no difference in the insulin sensitivity in any group.CONCLUSIONS:The combined treatment and aerobic treatment alone were equally effective in reducing the blood pressure, body mass index, and abdominal and waist circumferences, although the addition of the resistance component also helped reduce the fat mass.

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Salt sensitivity and insulin resistance are correlated with higher cardiovascular risk. There is no information about changes in salt sensitivity (SS) and insulin sensitivity (IS) after a chronic salt overload in humans. The aim of this study was to evaluate these parameters in the elderly. Seventeen volunteers aged 70.5 ± 5.9 years followed a low-salt diet (LSD) for 1 week and a high-salt diet (HSD) for 13 weeks. We evaluated SS after one week (HSD1) and after 13 weeks (HSD13), and subjects’ IS and lipids on their usual diet (UD) at HSD1, and at HSD13. Blood pressure (BP) was measured at each visit and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was performed twice. SS was the same at HSD1 and HSD13. Systolic BP was lower on LSD than on UD (P = 0.01), HSD1 (P < 0.01) and HSD13 (P < 0.01). When systolic and diastolic BP were evaluated by ABPM, they were higher at HSD13 during the 24-h period (P = 0.03 and P < 0.01) and during the wakefulness period (P = 0.02 and P < 0.01) compared to the UD. Total cholesterol was higher (P = 0.04) at HSD13 than at HSD1. Glucose and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) were lower at HSD1 (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01) than at HSD13. Concluding, the extension of HSD did not change the SS in an elderly group. The higher IS found at HSD1 did not persist after a longer HSD. A chronic HSD increased BP as assessed by ABPM

Several studies have demonstrated that one exercise session (ES) on a cycloergometer or ergometric treadmill causes a reduction in blood pressure (BP). However, there are few similar studies on walking, which is the exercise modality most available to the elderly. We investigated the immediate and 24-h effects of walking on BP in independent, community-living elderly individuals. Volunteers participated in a single ES and resting control session (CS). Before and after each session, BP was measured by auscultatory and oscillometric methods. After each session, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted. An accelerometer was installed 48 h before the sessions and left in place for 5 days. The mean volunteer age was 67.7 ± 3.5 years; 11 were hypertensive patients under treatment, and 12 were normotensive. In the total sample, there were immediate 14mm Hg and 12 mm Hg reductions in systolic BP (SBP) after the ES according to the auscultatory and oscillometric methods, respectively. Diastolic BP (DBP) was reduced by 4 mm Hg after the ES according to both methods. SBP during wakefulness and sleep and DBP during wakefulness were lower after the ES than after the CS (Po0.01), when wakefulness and sleep were determined individually (variable-time pattern) using data from the activity monitors and provided by the volunteers. Keywords: actigraph; aerobic exercise; ambulatory blood pressure monitoring; blood pressure; elderly individuals INTRODUCTIONThe aging process is associated with many important physiological changes, of which increased blood pressure (BP) is one of the most well known. In addition to regular physical exercise, a single session of acute exercise has also been observed to reduce BP during the recovery period.Hypotensive responses have been observed in hypertensive animals 1,2 and normotensive (NT) and hypertensive humans. [3][4][5][6] The magnitude of the hypotensive response to aerobic exercise varies between NT and hypertensive subjects and young and elderly subjects. In a study conducted in NT and hypertensive elderly persons, 6 reduced BP was observed only in hypertensive subjects after executing a single exercise session (ES) on a cycloergometer. In another study including only NT women, 7 a marked reduction in BP was observed after acute dynamic exercise in middle-aged and elderly women but not in young women. Other studies 8,9 have shown greater BP reductions in persons aged 41-60 years compared with older and younger individuals.Ambulatory arterial blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has been extensively used to obtain more detailed information about BP