ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (ONLINE): Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity can lower systolic blood pressure in women who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at rest, under stress, and generally, according to a new study from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil.
\nHypertension is of particular risk for people with RA, whose risk of dying from cardiovascular disease is 48% higherTrusted Source than that of the general population.<\/p>\n
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease. With RA, one\u2019s immune system incorrectly attacks healthy cells. The result is inflammation \u2014 along with painful swelling \u2013 often in multiple synovialTrusted Source joints at the same time.
\nMost commonly, RA affects joints in the knees, hands, and wrists. RA can damage the tissue in these joints, causing prolonged or chronic pain, balance issues, and deformity. It can also cause problems in the eyes, heart, and lungs, as well as other parts of the body.
\nThe condition is frequently accompanied by hypertension and cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n
The direct cause of RA is currently unknown, although known risk factorsTrusted Source include:
\n\u2022\tage \u2014 RA is linked to aging, and it most often strikes people in their 60s.
\n\u2022\tsmoking \u2014 including non-smoking children of smokers
\n\u2022\tnot having given birth \u2014 women who have never given birth are at greater risk of RA.
\n\u2022\tsex
\n\u2022\tobesity
\n\u2022\tgenetics.<\/p>\n
The study is published in the Journal of Human HypertensionTrusted Source.
\nLower blood pressure with exercise
\nThe study was a randomized controlled crossover trial that observed the effects of a single session of aerobic exercise on resting blood pressure, stress-related blood pressure, and a full day\u2019s blood pressure in people with both RA and high blood pressure.
\nParticipants in the study were all women since RA impacts them two to three times more oftenTrusted Source than men.
\nThe trial\u2019s 20 participants walked at moderate speeds on a treadmill for 30 minutes or served as a control group, resting.<\/p>\n
Before and after each woman\u2019s exercise session, the researchers measured resting blood pressure. In order to look at blood pressure in response to stress, blood pressure was also measured in response to the Stroop-Color Word Test and the Cold Pressor test.
\nThe Stroop-Color Word Test is a cognitive challenge in which individuals are presented the names of colors printed in other hues. They are asked to recite the words\u2019 actual color rather than the word its letters spell.
\nThe Cold Pressor Test is a pain-tolerance test in which individuals place their hands in cold water \u2014 4\u00b0 C \u2014 to produce slight or moderate pain for as long as they keep their hand submerged.<\/p>\n
Without exercise, it is expected that an individual\u2019s systolic and diastolic blood pressure will rise by 18 mmHG and 11 mmHG, respectively, in response to the Cold Pressor Test. However, on days in which participants engaged in exercise, their systolic blood pressure actually decreased by 1 mmHG in response to the test.
\nAfter exercise, each individual was outfitted with an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for measuring hypertension over the following 24 hours.<\/p>\n
The exercise group exhibited lowered resting systolic blood pressure by an average of 5 mHG, and stressed blood pressure by 7 mmHG. Twenty-four-hour systolic blood pressure was reduced by 5 mmHG.
\nThis is a meaningful decrease in blood pressure since reductions of 5 mmHg in systolic blood pressure have been linkedTrusted Source to clinical reductions in the risk of dying due to stroke (-14%), coronary artery disease (-9%), and all causes (-7%) for people with hypertension.<\/p>\n
The researchers observed no effect on diastolic blood pressure resulting from the exercise.
\nSystolic blood pressure reflects the pressure in arteries as the heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure in arteries while the heart is at rest. When one has a blood pressure test, it is usually shown as one number over the other \u2014 systolic pressure is the one on top.
\nHow exercise helps lower blood pressure
\nThe study\u2019s senior investigator, Dr. Tiago Pe\u00e7anha explained that \u201caerobic exercise reduces systolic blood pressure by promoting a relaxation of the blood vessels. We call this \u201cvasodilation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Significantly, he added, \u201cThis can happen after a single session of aerobic exercise and prolong to several hours after the end of exercise, said Dr. Pe\u00e7anha.
\n\u201cWe call this post-exercise hypotension, and this phenomenon may benefit people with high blood pressure,\u201d he said.
\nDr. Pe\u00e7anha suggested that every time a person exercises, the temporary improvements in blood pressure may become more permanent and more prominent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is like the effects of a medication that may improve your symptoms in the short term, but that will bring even better results over time with regular use,\u201d said Dr. Pe\u00e7anha.
\nCardiologist Dr. Jayne Morgan, who was not involved in the study, agreed, saying, \u201cSmall decreases in blood pressure in response to acute exercise can accumulate over time when done repeatedly, and provide a more sustained decrease or decay in hypertension. And this is independent of the RA population.\u201d
\nConsidering varying results from other studies, Dr. Pe\u00e7anha proposed 30 minutes may be the optimal exercise time for this purpose.<\/p>\n
How rheumatoid arthritis and hypertension are linked
\nThe high concurrence of RA and hypertension, said Dr. Morgan, \u201cis thought to be due to the drugs used to treat the [RA] disease process, such as NSAIDS and steroids.
\nShe added that RA patients tend to have less elasticity in their blood vessels, which can also cause blood pressure to rise, as well as generalized inflammation, including vasculitis, and inflammation of blood vessels.
\n\u201cMoreover,\u201d said Dr. Morgan, \u201cthose with chronic joint pain, whether it is caused by RA or some other factor, can often have high blood pressure because of the combination of both pain and inflammation, which can, in turn, raise cortisol levels in response to stress.\u201d
\nDoes exercise have the same effect on men with RA?
\nAsked whether the same results would be observed in male study participants, Dr. Pe\u00e7anha said, \u201cwe don\u2019t know really if that would also happen in men with rheumatoid arthritis. We assume that the effects of exercise are similar between women and men, but that is not always the case.\u201d
\nHe noted that while women get RA far more often than men, \u201cthere is data showing that although men are less affected by rheumatoid arthritis, the risk of future cardiovascular events is higher in menTrusted Source compared to women with RA.\u201d
\nTherefore,\u201d he said, \u201cthere is a need to investigate interventions that may benefit men with rheumatoid arthritis, and exercise could be a very effective approach.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (ONLINE): Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity can lower systolic blood pressure in women who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at rest, under stress, and generally, according to a new study from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. Hypertension is of particular risk […]<\/p>\n
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