Effects of circuit exercise training on vascular health and blood pressure

As the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) rises, public health-related interventions aimed at prevention of heart disease have gained medical attention. Clinical research reports that exercise is a protective risk factor associated with CVD and that clinicians need to provide exercise recommendations to patients. Nevertheless, physical inactivity remains a public health problem. In certain populations, like firefighters (FF), increased risk of CVD is especially concerning. The workload FF face is extreme, 50% of line-of-duty deaths (LODD) in FF are cardiac-related, and research on the volunteer FF population is scarce. Government regulations do not require volunteer FF companies to have fitness testing or programming, so exercise intervention studies are necessary to improve the burden of CVD risk in this population. Therefore, this study examined the effects of a 4-week exercise circuit training (CT) intervention on vascular health and fitness in volunteer FF (N = 27) from the Philadelphia PA area compared to a control group of Non-FF (N = 25). Carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), augmentation index, and pulse pressure (PP), brachial and central blood pressure (BP) and fitness were measured pre- and post- intervention. Overall, volunteer FF had more significant improvements (p < 0.05) in vascular health measures (FMD, IMT, and PP). In both groups, we also found that brachial and central BP decreased with exercise. We show that a 4 week CT program can improve vascular structure and function in the volunteer FF population, suggesting that clinicians may be able to reduce or prevent cardiac LODD by exercise. Keywords: Vascular health, Flow-mediated dilation, Blood pressure, Exercise, Carotid artery intima media thickness, Volunteer firefighter

Effects of 4-Week Lifestyle Intervention on Fitness Levels of Adults

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been identified as a leading cause of death in the United States, with more than two million Americans having a heart attack or a stroke and close to a million deaths each year. Research shows that one of the independent risk factors for CVD is increased sedentary time. Sedentary behaviors predominate modern life, and there are numerous negative health effects associated with inactivity. Physical fitness is inversely related to mortality, and it is believed that by simply decreasing sedentary time and increasing exercise time, cardiovascular risk factors and vascular health measures will improve. Previous studies have found that four weeks of exercise reduces blood pressures, leads to fat weight loss, and improves fitness

Effects of a 4 Week Exercise Intervention on Brachial and Core Blood Pressures

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the world. Research has consistently shown that high blood pressure is a major cardiovascular risk factor, which emphasizes the need to monitor it in all individuals. Blood pressure measurements are typically obtained using the brachial artery, but core blood pressure obtained using pulse wave analysis (PWA) has been gaining popularity. This is due to the fact that previous research supports that core blood pressure may be a better predictor of cardiovascular events

Effects Of A Short-term Functional Exercise Program On Cardiac And Vascular Health

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Research consistently shows that those at the highest risk for cardiovascular disease are those who are overweight and have low fitness and activity levels. Also, physical activity levels are inversely related to glucose and cholesterol, body fat, and vascular health measures; all of which are easily measured markers of cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have found that short-term exercise improves blood pressure, vascular health, and glucose and cholesterol levels. Also, fun and simple exercises have been shown to lead to habit formation in previously sedentary individuals. However, to date, no study has examined cardiac and vascular health changes with a 4-week functional exercise program

Vascular Health and Fitness Levels in Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Obese Young Adults

It is established that obesity is related to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), impaired vascular health, and other chronic diseases. Within the obese population, those that are metabolically healthy (MHO), however, are hypothesized to have lower CVD risk as compared to their metabolically unhealthy counterparts (MUHO), because of their lower levels of inflammation. However, research is limited examining whether vascular health differs between young adults classified as MHO and MUHO. PURPOSE: We compared vascular health and fitness levels between young adult males with either MHO or MUHO. METHODS: On separate days, 29 (16 MHO 28.4yrs old, 13 MUHO 25.8yrs old) male adults recruited from the Philadelphia suburban area came to the lab for testing. After an overnight fast, participants underwent carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT) ultrasound, brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD), fasted glucose/cholesterol testing, body composition (bioelectrical impedance), and blood pressure (BP) measurement. During another visit, participants completed VO2peak treadmill testing and had more BP measurements. In accordance with previous literature metabolic risk factors were defined as: BP ≥130/85 mmHg or on antihypertensives; fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL or on antidiabetic medications; BMI ≥30kg/m2 or BF ≥25%; triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL; and HDL ≤40 mg/dL. Participants with less than two risk factors were considered MHO and those with two or more risk factors were considered MUHO. RESULTS: We found that weight was greater (241.91±43.8 vs 210.43±33.8 lb, p\u3c0.05) and fat mass was higher (85.28±31.0 vs 64.68±20.9 lb, p\u3c0.05) in young adult males classified as MUHO compared to MHO. Also, fasted plasma glucose levels were higher (96.69±8.0 vs 87.25±6.4mg/dL, p\u3c0.05) and triglyceride levels were higher (148.42±83.1 vs 93.80±27.9 mg/dL, p\u3c0.05) in MUHO compared to MHO. No differences were found between groups for vascular health measures. CONCLUSIONS: Although young adults with MUHO have impaired cardiovascular health compared to MHO, the population studied was too young to discern vascular health differences. Further studies should investigate inflammatory markers, like CRP, between adults with MUHO and MHO, as inflammation may be more indicative of CVD risk in younger obese people than FMD or IMT