





Effect of Short Duration Aerobic Exercises on Resting Blood Pressure and Heart Rate in Pre-hypertensive and Stage 1 Hypertensive Subjects
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Background: In India percentage of population having mild hypertension is 40.9 %.Urban population is more effected than rural areas. The contributing factors may be stress, change in diet, life style, genetic etc. Systolic hypertension has been considered to be one of the most important cause of morbidity and mortality leading to stroke, cardiovascular and renal diseases. Preventive strategies like modification in diet, exercising is important in this change in trend of health statistics. This study is to investigate the effectiveness of short duration aerobic exercise training on resting blood pressure and heart rate of participants with Prehypertensives and Stage 1 Hypertensives.
Objectives: To asses the effect of short duration aerobic exercise on resting Blood Pressure and Heart Rate in Prehypertensive and Stage 1 Hypertensive subjects
Method: This was an experimental study involving 50 participants (mean age of 50.47 5.69), who were Prehypertensives (systolic 120-139 mm of Hg or diastolic 80-89 mm of Hg) and Stage 1 Hypertensives (systolic 140-159 mm of Hg or diastolic 90-99 mm of Hg) according to JNC VII criteria. They were selected on the basis of screening of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Baseline score of Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and Heart Rate (HR) was documented. An aerobic exercise regime of total 50 minutes duration was administered for 6 weeks at 3 days per week frequency. At the end of six weeks again SBP, DBP and HR was measured using sphygmomanometer, stethoscope and a watch .Data was analyzed using paired t-test in SPSS software.
Results: There was significant decrease in values of SBP, DBP and HR after the 6weeks aerobic training in hypertensive individuals (p<0.001). The percentage change in the values were found to be more in men than women and the change was more marked in individuals below 50 years of age than individuals above 50 years of age.
Conclusion: There is a significant change in the blood pressure and heart rate if hypertensive subjects are subjected to aerobic exercises. Incorporating simple aerobic exercise in daily regime can bring a sense of well being among high BP patients and individuals prone to hypertension and also control any further increase in the same. This can lead to prevention of common diseases nowadays like Stroke, Ischemic Heart Diseases and renal diseases in people with hypertension.