title: Effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on blood pressure trajectory with aging in a cohort of healthy men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the trajectory of blood pressure (BP) with aging is well known, there is a lack of data on how cardiorespiratory fitness (hereafter referred to as fitness) affects age-associated changes in BP.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to investigate whether fitness alters the aging-BP trajectory.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study totaling 13,953 men between 20 and 90 years of age who did not have hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or cancer completed 3 to 28 (mean of 3.8) follow-up medical examinations between 1970 and 2006. Fitness was measured by a maximal treadmill exercise test. Longitudinal data were analyzed using linear mixed models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) tended to increase until nearly 60 years of age, when a decrease was observed. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) tended to increase over all age periods. On multivariate analysis, average SBP increased by 0.30 mm Hg (95% confidence interval: 0.29 to 0.31) with 1-year age increment after adjusting for body fat percent, fitness, resting heart rate, glucose level, triglyceride level, cholesterol level, current smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, and parental history of hypertension. DBP had a yearly increase of 0.14 mm Hg (95% confidence interval: 0.13 to 0.15) before age 60 years. Overall, abnormal SBP (>120 mm Hg) began to occur at approximately 50 years of age and abnormal DBP (>80 mm Hg) began to occur at 60 years of age. Men with higher fitness levels experienced abnormal SBP later than those with low fitness levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings underscore the potential modifying effect of fitness on BP trajectory with aging over the male adult life span. Improving fitness levels might extend the normal SBP and DBP ranges, delaying the development of hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Junxiu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Xuemei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.affiliation: John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinical School, University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA and the Department of Preventive Medicine, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lavie
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Haiming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Yong-Moon Mark
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.|Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
authors.forename: Steven N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Blair
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000639:trends*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aging; blood pressure; cardiorespiratory fitness; cohort study