Acute aerobic exercise reduces 24-h ambulatory blood pressure levels in long-term-treated hypertensive patients.

BACKGROUND: Even with anti-hypertensive therapy, it is difficult to maintain optimal systemic blood pressure values in hypertensive patients. Exercise may reduce blood pressure in untreated hypertensive, but its effect when combined with long-term anti-hypertensive therapy remains unclear. Our purpose was to evaluate the acute effects of a single session of aerobic exercise on the blood pressure of long-term-treated hypertensive patients.

METHODS: Fifty treated hypertensive patients (18/32 male/female; 46.5+/-8.2 years; Body mass index: 27.8+/-4.7 kg/m(2)) were monitored for 24 h with respect to ambulatory (A) blood pressure after an aerobic exercise session (post-exercise) and a control period (control) in random order. Aerobic exercise consisted of 40 minutes on a cycle-ergometer, with the mean exercise intensity at 60% of the patient's reserve heart rate.

RESULTS: Post-exercise ambulatory blood pressure was reduced for 24 h systolic (126+/-8.6 vs. 123.1+/-8.7 mmHg, p=0.004) and diastolic blood pressure (81.9+/-8 vs. 79.8+/-8.5 mmHg, p=0.004), daytime diastolic blood pressure (85.5+/-8.5 vs. 83.9+/-8.8 mmHg, p=0.04), and nighttime S (116.8+/-9.9 vs. 112.5+/-9.2 mmHg, p<0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (73.5+/-8.8 vs. 70.1+/-8.4 mmHg, p<0.001). Post-exercise daytime systolic blood pressure also tended to be reduced (129.8+/-9.3 vs. 127.8+/-9.4 mmHg, p=0.06). These post-exercise decreases in ambulatory blood pressure increased the percentage of patients displaying normal 24h systolic blood pressure (58% vs. 76%, p=0.007), daytime systolic blood pressure (68% vs. 82%, p=0.02), and nighttime diastolic blood pressure (56% vs. 72%, p=0.02). Nighttime systolic blood pressure also tended to increase (58% vs. 80%, p=0.058).

CONCLUSION: A single bout of aerobic exercise reduced 24h ambulatory blood pressure levels in long-term-treated hypertensive patients and increased the percentage of patients reaching normal ambulatory blood pressure values. These effects suggest that aerobic exercise may have a potential role in blood pressure management of long-term-treated hypertensive.