Efeitos do treinamento físico em meio aquático e terrestre sobre respostas cardiovasculares em idosas hipertensas.

The arterial Hypertension (AH) is public health problem, AH is considered cardiovascular risk factor with high cost and avoidable. The AH affect 33% of the Brazilian population being that 50% of this population is over 60 years old. Therefore, prevention, treatment and control of high blood pressure (BP) are the highest priorities of public health. The Brazilian cardiology society recommends two types of treatment: the drug treatment and the non-medicated. Since the non-medicament consists of changes in habits to decrease the pressure values at rest, these habits are: reduction of sodium and alcohol consumption, combating smoking and sedentary lifestyle. The latter focuses on the performance of exercises in either aquatic or terrestrial environments. The aquatic environment due to hydrostatic pressure induces the physiological alterations distinct from those observed in the terrestrial environment; in addition, it is considered a safe means of training for the elderly. The aim of this study was to compare the behavior of systolic (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) of hypertensive elderly trained either in aquatic or terrestrial environments. Eighteen trained hypertensive elderly subjects in water aerobics (n = 8) and fitness (n = 10) for a minimum of 6 months were submitted to a physical evaluation after a minimum rest period of the 48 hours. The BP measurement was performed for 24-hour by blood pressure ambulatory monitoring. Our results show that the mean 24-hour mean values during wakefulness for SBP (124.9 ± 1.2 mmHg) and DBP (69.8 ± 1.1 mmHg) were lower for the aquatic group compared to the group (135.6 ± 1.5 mmHg) and DBP (77.4 ± 0.8 mmHg), there was no difference in mean values in the 24h during the sleep period for both SBP and DBP between groups. The results suggest that the physical training performed in the aquatic environment contributes with lower values of SBP and DBP in comparison with terrestrial exercise of hypertensive elderly during the wakeful period.