Elderly people need more exercise

BALTIMORE, April 11 (UPI) -- Moderate levels of exercise may not be enough to control mild hypertension in U.S. men and women over age 55, the age group most at risk of heart failure.

Current guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine recommend 30- to 45-minute periods of combined aerobic exercise and moderate weightlifting, three to five times every week, with an expected reduction in blood pressure of 8 millimeters to 10 millimeters of mercury (mm/Hg).

"Exercise is highly recommended for reducing blood pressure and is part of prevention and treatment programs for an estimated 90 percent of adults in the United States who eventually develop hypertension," says exercise physiologist Kerry Stewart of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute. "But current exercise guidelines were based on studies that had several limitations, including that they were not tested in older adults."

The four-year study of men and woman ages 55 to 75 included half of the participants engaged in an exercise routine three times a week for 90 minutes, with the other half maintaining their usual physical routine and diet.

The reductions in blood pressure were mixed, with both exercisers and non-exercisers lowering systolic blood pressure measurements in amounts not statistically different between the two groups

The findings are published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.