Isometric Exercise and Inspiratory Muscle Training as the Antihypertensive Treatment in Elderly Population

Abstract

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a common age related, chronic disorder affecting more than 1 billion people. The risk of developing hypertension is between the age of 55 to 65 years. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) and isometric resistance training individually shows beneficial outcomes in a number of cardiovascular populations, which may potentially improve condition of elderly patients with hypertension. PURPOSE: To study the effectiveness of combined isometric resistance training and inspiratory muscle training on the change in blood pressure. METHODS: A total of 15 patients were included in the study based on the inclusion who were diagnosed with hypertension above 140/70 mmHg, both genders with age above 60 years, and the patients with any acute illness and other neurological, metabolic, pulmonary and systemic diseases were excluded from the study. All the participants were assessed for SBP and DBP before initiating the study using sphygmomanometer. All the participants were given isometric exercises and inspiratory muscle training for 3 weeks and the post-test measurements were obtained. The pre-test and post-test measurements were statistically analysed. RESULTS: The study shows a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post -test value of SBP ( -8.47 mmHg) and DBP (-3.2mmHg) with p value <0.0001. CONCLUSION: Our findings and data suggest that this form of training has the potential to produce significant and clinically meaningful blood pressure reductions in the elderly population.