Efficacy of moderate-intensity physical activity in lowering non- high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in stage 2 essential hypertensive patients

Background: Hypertension and non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-c) measure is a useful evaluation tool to assess heart disease risk. Increasing physical activity (PA) is considered to reduce blood pressure (BP) and non-HDL-c in patients with hypertension. Objective: This study assesses the influence of moderate and regular PA on non-HDL cholesterol in essential hypertension. Subjects and methods: We studied 100 patients of either gender, aged 40–69 years of stage 2 essential hypertension in this interventional study. Patients were enrolled for 12 weeks of PA intervention (10,000 footsteps per day) and were followed at 15 days interval in the first month and after that 1-month duration. Lipid profile was estimated at baseline and at the final assessment visit (after 12 weeks). Results: The data included in this study confirm the beneficial effects of regular PA on non-HDL-c levels ( P < 0.000001). It was found that after 12 weeks of intervention program, the cholesterol, triglycerides; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL), and non-HDL-c were lowered from 276.53 to 194.19, 191.17 to 110.58, 196.07 to 120.72, 38.23 to 22.12, and 234.32 to 142.84, respectively. It was also noted that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) was increased from 42.21 to 51.35 following the interventional program. All the results were highly significant ( P < 0.000001). Conclusions: A non-pharmacological activity like PA is beneficial for better management of hypertension to avoid cardiovascular co-morbidities. Twelve weeks of physical exercise program (walking of 10,000 footsteps/day) decreases the risk associated with BP elevation by improving non-HDL-c in hypertensive patients.