Key result
A single session of isometric handgrip exercise reduced very short-term blood pressure variability but did not affect short-term 24-hour variability in hypertensive individuals.
Why the study?
The effect of a single isometric handgrip exercise session on blood pressure variability had not been addressed.
Does a single session of isometric handgrip exercise reduce blood pressure variability in hypertensive individuals?
RCT (n=72)
Single-blinded
Random blocks of four to six participants, stratified by sex and age
No
Does a single session of isometric handgrip exercise reduce blood pressure variability in hypertensive individuals?
A single session of isometric handgrip exercise acutely reduces very short-term blood pressure variability in the laboratory but does not sustain these reductions over a 24-hour period in hypertensive patients.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Single-session isometric handgrip reduces acute but not 24-hour BP variability; leaves open whether repeated sessions confer sustained benefit in hypertension.
Background: The effect of a single isometric handgrip exercise (IHG) on blood pressure (BP) variability (BPV) has not been addressed. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of IHG vs. sham on BPV and BP. Methods: Hypertensive patients using up to two BP-lowering medications were randomly assigned to IHG (4 × 2 min; 30% of maximal voluntary contraction, MVC, with 1 min rest between sets, unilateral) or sham (protocol; 0.3% of MVC). Systolic and diastolic BP were assessed beat-to-beat in the laboratory before, during, and post-intervention and also using 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). BPV was expressed as average real variability (ARV) and standard deviation (SD). Results: Laboratory BPV, ARV and SD variability, had marked increase during the intervention, but not in the sham group, decreasing in the post-intervention recovery period. The overall change in ARV from pre- to 15 min post-intervention were 0.27 ± 0.07 (IHG) vs. 0.05 ± 0.15 (sham group), with a statistically significant p -value for interaction. Similarly, mean systolic BP increased during the intervention (IHG 165.4 ± 4.5 vs. sham 152.4 ± 3.5 mmHg; p = 0.02) as did diastolic BP (104.0 ± 2.5 vs. 90.5 ± 1.7 mmHg, respectively; p < 0.001) and decreased afterward. However, neither the short-term BPV nor BP assessed by ABPM reached statistically significant differences between groups. Conclusion: A single session of IHG reduces very short-term variability but does not affect short-term variability. IHG promotes PEH in the laboratory, but does not sustain 24-h systolic and diastolic PEH beyond the recovery period.
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Bertoletti et al. (2022) conducted an RCT in Hypertension (n=72). Isometric handgrip exercise vs. Sham exercise (0.3% of MVC) was evaluated on Overall change in average real variability (ARV) for systolic blood pressure from pre- to 15 min post-intervention (p=0.036). A single session of isometric handgrip exercise reduced very short-term blood pressure variability but did not affect short-term 24-hour variability in hypertensive individuals.
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