Regular physical activity prevents development of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension.
OBJECTIVE
The longitudinal relationship between aerobic exercise and left ventricular (LV) mass in hypertension is not well known. We did a prospective study to investigate the long-term effect of regular physical activity on development of LV hypertrophy (LVH) in a cohort of young subjects screened for Stage 1 hypertension.


RESULTS
We assessed 454 subjects whose physical activity status was consistent during the follow-up. Echocardiographic LV mass was measured at entry, every 5 years, and/or at the time of hypertension development before starting treatment. LVH was defined as an LV mass >/=50 g/m(2.7) in men and >/=47 g/m(2.7) in women. During a median follow-up of 8.3 years, 32 subjects developed LVH (sedentary, 10.3%; active, 1.7%, P = 0.000). In a logistic regression, physically active groups combined (n = 173) were less likely to develop LVH than sedentary group with a crude OR = 0.15 (CI, 0.05-0.52). After controlling for sex, age, family history for hypertension, hypertension duration, body mass, blood pressure, baseline LV mass, lifestyle factors, and follow-up length, the OR was 0.24 (CI, 0.07-0.85). Blood pressure declined over time in physically active subjects (-5.1 +/- 17.0/-0.5 +/- 10.2 mmHg) and slightly increased in their sedentary peers (0.0 +/- 15.3/0.9 +/- 9.7 mmHg, adjusted P vs. active = 0.04/0.06). Inclusion of changes in blood pressure over time into the logistic model slightly decreased the strength of the association between physical activity status and LVH development (OR = 0.25, CI, 0.07-0.87).


CONCLUSIONS
Regular physical activity prevents the development of LVH in young stage 1 hypertensive subjects. This effect is independent from the reduction in blood pressure caused by exercise.
Palatini
Paolo
P
Clinica Medica 4, University of Padova, via Giustiniani, 2, 35128 Padova, Italy. palatini@unipd.it
Visentin
Pieralberto
P
Dorigatti
Francesca
F
Guarnieri
Chiara
C
Santonastaso
Massimo
M
Cozzio
Susanna
S
Pegoraro
Fabrizio
F
Bortolazzi
Alessandra
A
Vriz
Olga
O
Mos
Lucio
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult