title: Intermittent walking: a potential treatment for older people with postprandial hypotension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exercise has been proposed as a possible treatment for postprandial hypotension (PPH), yet, its use has not been extensively investigated. This study aimed to determine the effects of intermittent walking on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) following ingestion of a glucose drink in older people with PPH.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirteen persons with PPH were recruited and studied on 2 randomized days (control, intervention). On both study days, participants ingested 200 mL of water containing 50 g glucose, followed by ambulatory BP and HR monitoring 6 minutely for 60 minutes, then 15 minutely until 120 minutes. On the intervention day, participants walked at their usual pace for 30 m every 30 minutes for 120 minutes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the control day, significant falls in systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P < .005) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P = .016) were demonstrated between t = 0-120 minutes. On the intervention day, over the same period, there was no significant fall in SBP (P = .520), however, DBP still fell significantly (P = .045). There was a statistically significant difference (P = .005) for the area under the curve for the change in SBP from baseline for the study days but not DBP (P = .716). There was no significant change in HR (control: P = .854; intervention, P = .168) nor between the area under the curve (P = .798) for the change in HR from baseline for the study days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that in older people with PPH, intermittent walking at a usual pace attenuates the fall in SBP after ingestion of a glucose drink.
authors.affiliation: Aged and Extended Care Services, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia; Adelaide Geriatrics Training and Research with Aged Care (G-TRAC) Centre, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia. Electronic address: Nair.Shailaja@health.sa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Shailaja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Aged and Extended Care Services, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia; Adelaide Geriatrics Training and Research with Aged Care (G-TRAC) Centre, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Renuka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Visvanathan
authors.affiliation: Adelaide Geriatrics Training and Research with Aged Care (G-TRAC) Centre, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia; School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gentilcore
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005947:Glucose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D019518:Postprandial Period; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013021:South Australia; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose
keywords: Postprandial hypotension; exercise