The Effect of Stretching and Brisk Walking on Pre-hypertension and Hypertension
Date
2024-11-28
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Hypertension (HT), or high blood pressure (BP), is a chronic illness marked by increased arterial BP. It greatly increases the chances of having cardiovascular (CV) diseases and subsequent complications including stroke or heart attack. The prevalence of HT has been rising significantly due to sedentary lifestyles, obesity, or even aging. Diagnosis and treatment of HT are very essential; it is necessary to consider lifestyle modifications including physical activity, in addition to drug management. Objective: This research sought to find out whether stretching is more effective than walking in reducing BP. Methods: Twenty-one participants, both males and females, aged 18 years and above with normal-high BP (systolic 130-139 mm Hg and diastolic 85-89 mm Hg) or HT, who were not on anti-hypertensive drugs or had been taking a stable medication dose over the past six months without achieving their target BP levels (<140/90 mm Hg) were included. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: one group that went through a stretching program for six months while the other group was involved in a walking training program lasting the same duration. Before and after the intervention, 24-hr ambulatory BP, anthropometrics, sitting systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), supine SBP and DBP, peak oxygen capacity (VO2 max), as well as pulse wave velocity (PWV) were measured. Repeated measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare group differences. Data are presented as mean±SD and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: There were no significant time x group interactions with respect to night-time SBP, day-time SBP, day-time DBP, night-time DBP, 24-hr SBP, 24-hr DBP, VO2 max, and PWV. There was a significant decrease in body weight at the end of the study compared to baseline (79±17.3 kg vs 78.8±18 kg for stretching, 94.6±21.8 kg vs 91.7±21.7 for walking, p=0.042). Conclusion: Six months of stretching or walking did not have any significant impact on BP levels, VO2 max, and PWV. Collectively, these data indicate that more research is required to study the effect of stretching and brisk walking on HT.
Description
Keywords
Hypertension, Systolic blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure, stretching, walking
Citation
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Kinesiology
Program
Kinesiology