title: Supervised versus recommended physical exercise in hypertensive women. Is its recommendation enough?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to evaluate, in women with grade 1 essential hypertension, the response of cardio-respiratory and blood pressure (BP) after 6 weeks of supervised physical exercise (PE) vs only recommended exercise.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen consecutive hypertensive women whose BP control was stable were assigned randomly into two exercise groups. Group A including nine patients in an aerobic PE programme supervised by a physiotherapist, aged (mean +/- SD) 35.5 +/- 5.5 years old. Group B, nine patients aged 37.7 +/- 7.2 years old, received only oral and written instructions about the benefits of aerobic PE for controlling BP. We used a treadmill for walking to observe the cardio-respiratory and BP response at the beginning and at the end of the period of exercise training, and the response in all the patients, and to test whether there were any differences between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant differences in cardio-respiratory parameters in group A, in basal VO2/kg post- vs pre-rehabilitation 27.6 +/- 5.1 vs 23.1 +/- 4.6, change 4.4 +/- 2; O2 pulse 10.9 +/- 0.9 vs 10.4 +/- 1.6, varied 0.5 +/- 0.1; furthermore we observed heart rate 73.3 +/- 12.37 vs 86.6 +/- 12.8, change -13.4 +/- 12.1 and metabolic equivalents of oxygen 9 +/- 1.2 vs 6.6 +/- 2.7, change 2.5 +/- 1.6, while in BP in group A, the differences were 153.1 +/- 7.1 vs 148.8 +/- 13.6, change -6.3 +/- 0.7 mm/g, p < 0.01 between pre- and post-rehabilitation. There were also significant differences between pre- and post-rehabilitation in group A in systolic BP 153 +/- 7.3 vs 135.1 +/- 16, change -18.1 +/- 4.1, p < 0.001 and diastolic BP 92.6 +/- 10.1 vs 83.5 +/- 9.1, change -9 +/- 4, p < 0.05; no change in group B. Finally, an improvement was observed in pulse pressure post-rehabilitation in group A 61.4 +/- 15.2 vs 51.6 +/- 11.4, change -9.8 +/- 3.9 vs group B 59.4 +/- 11.2 vs 59.3 +/- 10.6, only -0.1 +/- 0.8, p < 0.001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that supervised PE in hypertensive women significantly improves cardio-respiratory and BP values, as well as vascular adaptability.
authors.affiliation: Nephrology Department and Arterial Hypertension Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain. bonetsol@ns.hugtip.scs.es
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bonet
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coll
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012119:Respiration; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome