Effects of aerobic exercise and drug therapy on blood pressure and antihypertensive drugs: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Although aerobic exercise has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) in human beings, its additive BP-reducing effect on antihypertensive drug therapy seems to have been investigated in only laboratory animals. OBJECTIVES This study investigated the effects of aerobic dance combined with antihypertensive drugs on BP and number of antihypertensive drugs in individuals with hypertension. METHODS This open label randomised-controlled trial involved new-diagnosed male and female individuals with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension after at least four weeks of treatment. They were randomly assigned to drug therapy (Normoretic: Hydrochlorothiazide + amiloride hydrochloride, and Amlodipine) (control: n=33) and aerobic dance combined with drug therapy (exercise: n=30) groups. Intervention in each group lasted 12 weeks. BP was measured at baseline and during and pos-intervention. Number of antihypertensive drugs was recorded post-intervention. RESULTS There were significant reductions in SBP at some periods of the intervention in the exercise group (p=0.000 to 0.002) and control group (p=0.001 to 0.002), and significant difference in DBP at some periods of the intervention in exercise group (p=0.000 to 0.003) and control group (p=0.000 to 0.001). SBP (p=0.066) and DBP (p=0.100) did not differ between the two groups post-12-week intervention. The BP control rates were similar between the exercises (56.7%) and control (35.5%) groups (p=0.075). Similarly, between-group difference in the number of drugs was not significant (p=0.511). CONCLUSION This preliminary report demonstrates the tendency of aerobic dance to enhance BP control in individuals on two antihypertensive drugs without BP control.