Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in elderly people, while essential hypertension is a major risk factor for CVD. However, extensive experimental data support a role for increased reactive oxygen species levels and altered redox signaling in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
Objective: This study evaluates the effects of lifestyle modifications on oxidative stress and blood pressure in elderly hypertensive patients.
Materials and Methods: 83 hypertensive patients (49 males and 34 females) were recruited from Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, India for 3 months lifestyle modifications program which included morning walk, nadi shodan pranayama, dietary restrictions, and increase uptake of water.
Result: Post lifestyle modifications technique values revealed significant reduction of systolic blood pressure (p < 0.0001) and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.0001) besides all fasting lipids decreased except LDL. Moreover, there was significant increase in the GSH (p < 0.0001) and SOD (p < 0.0001), whereas significant decrease in the MDA (p < 0.0001) was recorded.
Conclusion: In this study, lifestyle modification program improved cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and dyslipidaemia along with oxidative stress. Modest modification in lifestyle can have substantial effects on human health status which can be achievable and unavoidable in developing countries as it is economical. We emphasize more researches should be done on lifestyle modifications program to make future policies and guidelines.
Key words: Elderly, hypertension, lifestyle modifications, oxidative stress
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