Balneo and PRM Research Journal (Sep 2024)

The role of a medium-term physical exercise program in improving cardiovascular parameters in hypertensive patients

  • Andrei Caius Neamtu,
  • Elena Amaricai,
  • Teodora Olariu,
  • Ademir Horia Stana,
  • Ramona Camelia Anculia,
  • Ramona Amina Popovici,
  • Stela Iurciuc

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12680/balneo.2024.726
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 3
p. 726

Abstract

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The objective of our study was to evaluate the changes in cardiovascular parameters in patients with hypertension who completed a 3-month physical exercise program. 229 sub-jects with high normal values of blood pressure and stage 1 hypertension (group 1) and 120 patients with stage 2 hypertension (group 2) followed a 3-month physical exercise program. The following parameters were measured: systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, heart rate, pulse wave velocity. For group 1 there were sta-tistically significant differences for all the tested parameters after the 3-month program (decreased systolic blood pressure, heart rate, pulse pressure and pulse wave velocity, p< 0.0001; lower diastolic blood pressure, p=0.018)). In group 2 all the tested parameters had decreased values after the 3-month rehabilitation program. However, only for the pulse wave velocity there was recorded a statistically significant reduction after the exercise program (p< 0.001). There were significant direct correlations between total cholesterol and pulse wave velocity for group 1 at both initial (p=0.024) and final assessments (p=0.03), and for group 2 patients at the 3-month assessment (p=0.001). A medium-term physical exercise program improved the cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, arte-rial stiffness) in hypertensive patients.

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