Abstract
Background and objective. Hypertension incidence increases with aging, with expressive enhancement in women after the menopause due to the important physiological changes induced by the estrogen levels decline. Aerobic training is recommended for lowering blood pressure (BP) in men and women with hypertension. However, the possible gender-related differences in training responses have been poorly investigated, especially in elderly patients. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze responses to aerobic training in elderly men and women with treated hypertension. Methods: Thirty-one elderly hypertensives (15 women, 68±6ys and 16 men, 66±7ys) who were taking regular antihypertensive medication for at least 4 months participated in the study. They underwent 10 weeks of an aerobic training designed in accordance with the guidelines’ recommendations for hypertension (i.e. 3 session/week, cycle ergometer, 30-45 min, moderate intensity). Before and after the training period, peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak, cardiopulmonary exercise test), BP (auscultatory), systemic hemodynamics (CO2 rebreathing technique) and vascular function (brachial doppler ultrasound) were assessed. In each group (men and women), the training effects were evaluated using paired t-tests or Wilcoxon tests, considering p<0.05 as significant. Results: Aerobic training increased aerobic capacity in both sexes (men = 20.8±4.2 vs. 21.8±4.8 ml.kg-1.min-1, p=0.04 and women = 15.3±2.6 vs. 16.4±2.3 ml.kg-1.min-1, p=0.01). In men, systolic BP and systemic vascular resistance decreased (129±13 vs. 125±12 mmHg, p=0.003 and 21.0±3.8 vs. 18.9±4.1 u, p=0.02), while flow mediated dilation increased (5.5±2.9 vs. 7.2±3.1%, p=0.01) after the training period. On the other hand, in women, none of these variables changed with the training (124±15 vs. 126±12 mmHg, p=0.92; 23.2±5.5 vs. 23.5±5.6 u, p=0.80; and 4.2±3.2 vs. 5.4±3.5%, p=0.10). The other variables assessed did not change in either group. Conclusions: The proposed aerobic training program increased aerobic capacity in both male and female elderly hypertensives, but improved BP, systemic vascular resistance, and endothelial function only in males. Key-words: aerobic training, gender, blood pressure, hypertension. Financial Support: CAPES-0001, CNPq-302309/2022-5, and FAPESP- 2022/12605-3.
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