Medical Research Council-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research, and NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Royal Derby Hospital Centre, Derby, UK.
Department of Anaesthetics and Surgery, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby, UK.
Age Ageing. 2021 May 5;50(3):980-984. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa211.
Hypertension is a risk factor for both cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, with an increasing incidence with advancing patient age. Exercise interventions have the potential to reduce blood pressure in older adults, however, rates of exercise uptake and adherence are low, with 'lack of time' a commonly cited reason. As such, there remains the need for time-efficient physical activity interventions to reduce blood pressure in older adults.
To compare the effect of three, novel time-efficient physical activity interventions on resting blood pressure in older adults.
Forty-eight, healthy, community-dwelling older adults (mean age: 71 years) were recruited to a 6-week randomised control trial. Resting blood pressure was measured before and after one of three supervised, time-efficient interventions: high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on a cycle ergometer; isometric handgrip training (IHG); unilateral, upper limb remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) or non-intervention control.
Both HIIT and IHG led to a statistically significant reduction in resting systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 9 mmHg, with no significant change in the RIPC or control groups. There was no change in diastolic blood pressure or pulse pressure in any group.
Supervised HIIT or IHG using the protocols described in this study can lead to statistically significant and clinically relevant reductions in resting SBP in healthy older adults in just 6 weeks.
高血压是心血管和脑血管疾病的一个风险因素，随着患者年龄的增长，其发病率逐渐增加。运动干预有可能降低老年人的血压，但运动的参与率和依从率都很低，“缺乏时间”是一个常见的原因。因此，仍然需要有效的体育活动干预措施来降低老年人的血压。
比较三种新型的、高效省时的体育活动干预措施对老年人静息血压的影响。
48 名健康的社区居住的老年人（平均年龄：71 岁）被招募参加一项为期 6 周的随机对照试验。在接受三种监督的、高效省时的干预措施之一之前和之后测量静息血压：在固定式自行车上进行高强度间歇训练（HIIT）；等长手握训练（IHG）；单侧上肢远程缺血预处理（RIPC）或非干预对照组。
HIIT 和 IHG 均导致静息收缩压（SBP）显著降低 9mmHg，而 RIPC 组或对照组无显著变化。任何一组的舒张压或脉压均无变化。
使用本研究中描述的方案进行监督的 HIIT 或 IHG 可以在短短 6 周内导致健康老年人的静息 SBP 显著且具有临床意义的降低。
