Effects of aerobic exercise and drug therapy on blood pressure and antihypertensive drugs: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Although aerobic exercise has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) in human beings, its additive BP-reducing effect on antihypertensive drug therapy seems to have been investigated in only laboratory animals. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effects of aerobic dance combined with antihypertensive drugs on BP and number of antihypertensive drugs in individuals with hypertension. METHODS: This open label randomised-controlled trial involved new-diagnosed male and female individuals with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension after at least four weeks of treatment. They were randomly assigned to drug therapy (Normoretic: Hydrochlorothiazide + amiloride hydrochloride, and Amlodipine) (control: n=33) and aerobic dance combined with drug therapy (exercise: n=30) groups. Intervention in each group lasted 12 weeks. BP was measured at baseline and during and pos-intervention. Number of antihypertensive drugs was recorded post-intervention. RESULTS: There were significant reductions in SBP at some periods of the intervention in the exercise group (p=0.000 to 0.002) and control group (p=0.001 to 0.002), and significant difference in DBP at some periods of the intervention in exercise group (p=0.000 to 0.003) and control group (p=0.000 to 0.001). SBP (p=0.066) and DBP (p=0.100) did not differ between the two groups post-12-week intervention. The BP control rates were similar between the exercises (56.7%) and control (35.5%) groups (p=0.075). Similarly, between-group difference in the number of drugs was not significant (p=0.511). CONCLUSION: This preliminary report demonstrates the tendency of aerobic dance to enhance BP control in individuals on two antihypertensive drugs without BP control.

Absence of sex differences in systolic blood pressure and heart rate responses to exercise in healthy young adults.

The influence of sex on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) responses associated with cardiovascular morbidity, in healthy young adults was determined in ninety healthy young adults (47 females and 43 males) exercised using Bruce protocol. SBP and HR were measured pre- and post-exercise, and during recovery. SBPresponse (peak minus pre-exercise SBP), %SBPresponse [(peak minus pre-exercise SBP)÷pre-exercise SBP]x100, SBP3 (SBP 3 minutes into recovery), SBP4 (SBP 4 minutes into recovery), SBP3:peak (SBP3÷peak SBP), %SBPd3 [(peak SBP minus SBP 3 minutes into recovery)x peak SBP]x100, %SBPd4 [(peak SBP minus SBP 4 minutes into recovery)x peak SBP]X100, HRresponse (Peak HR minus pre-exercise HR), %HRresponse [(peak HR minus pre-exercise HR)÷pre-exercise HR]x 100, HR3 (HR 3 minutes into recovery), HR4 (HR 4 minutes into recovery), %HRd3 [(peak HR minus HR 3 minutes into recovery)÷peak HR]x100, %HRd4 [(peak HR minus HR 4 minutes into recovery)÷peak HR]X100, and HR50-70 (HR between 50th and 70th seconds into recovery) were derived from SBP and HR measurements. SBPpeak, HRresponse and %HRresponse were higher in males than in females whereas, SBPresponse, %SBPresponse and HRpeak were not different. There were no significant differences in the post-exercise SBP and HR responses of males and females except for SBP3, SBP4, HR3 and HR4. After adjusting for exercise duration, body mass index (BMI), and resting SBP and HR, these variables became similar. Sex differences in some SBP and HR responses to exercise, become nonexistent after adjusting for BMI, exercise duration, and resting SBP and HR.

Perceived body image and weight: discrepancies and gender differences among University undergraduates.

BACKGROUND: Body image (BI) is a multidimensional construct that includes perceptual, attitudinal, behavioural components, and feedback from other people's perception of oneself. The feedback from others and the degree to which one accepts or rejects it can determine self evaluation and perception. Body weight perception is a strong determinant of nutritional habits and weight management among adolescents. One of the barriers to reducing rise in obesity prevalence could be its cultural acceptability in some developing countries. OBJECTIVE: To explore the gender influences on perception of self- and opposite-sex body images (BI), perceived body weight and the actual body weight categories at which discrepancies occur among the perceived BIs in undergraduates. METHODS: This was a survey of perceptual dimension of BI, perceived body weight and actual body weight carried out in 121 undergraduates aged 21-29 years. RESULTS: Discrepancies occurred between self-perceived BI and each of actual body weight (p= 0.00 at 0.00-0.02 confidence interval (CI)), perceived body weight (p= 0.01 at 0.000-0.02 CI) and self-ideal BI (p= 0.03 at 0.000-0.05 CI) of normal-weight males. Self-perceived BI and perceived body weight also differed in normal-weight females (p= 0.02 at 0.000-0.04 CI). Discrepancies (p= 0.02 at 0.00-0.04 CI) occurred between self-perceived BI and self-ideal BI, and between self-perceived BI and desired BI (p= 0.02 at 0.00-0.04 CI) in overweight females. Gender differences occurred for self-ideal BI (p= 0.00 at 0.00-0.02 CI), ideal image for the opposite sex (IBIOS) (p= 0.02 at 0.00-0.04 CI) and desired BI (p= 0.00 at 0.00-0.02 CI). CONCLUSION: Normal-weight males perceived their BI differently from their actual body weight, perceived body weight and self-ideal BI whereas normal-weight females perceived their BI differently from only their perceived body weight. Discrepancies occur between self-ideal BI and self-perceived BI, and between self-perceived BI and desired BI in overweight females. There are differential perceptions of self-ideal BI, IBIOS and desired BI between males and females.

Validation of a Yoruba translation of the World Health Organization's quality of life scale--short form among stroke survivors in Southwest Nigeria.

The World Health Organization's quality of life scale - short form (WHOQOL-BREF) is a well-validated, cross-cultural tool for measuring quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic diseases. It has been translated into over 20 languages, none of which is an indigenous Nigerianlanguage. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of a Yoruba translated version of the WHOQOL-BREF Yoruba is the indigenous language of southwestern Nigeria. The English version of the WHOQOL-BREF was translated into Yoruba and it went through two rounds of back-translation. The English and Yoruba versions of WHOQOL-BREF were completed by 41 stroke survivors, literate in both languages. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling method from physiotherapy clinics of all tertiary health institutions in southwestern Nigeria between April and August, 2004. Data was analyzed using Spearman rank order correlation and paired t- test with the alpha level set at 0.05. Participants (24 males, 14 females) were aged 55 +/- 10.7 years and have had stroke for 28.4 +/- 6.7 months. Participants' domain scores on the Yoruba translated version of WHOQOL-BREF correlated significantly with those on its English version (r = 0.695-0.859; p = 0.000). This Yoruba version is a valid translation of the English WHOQOL-BREF and may be used for assessing QOL of stroke survivors in southwestern Nigeria.