SALT RESTRICTION AND PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY IN TREATED HYPERTENSIVES

Aim. To determine the effect on blood pressure from brisk walking with or without salt restriction in a community based sample of treated hy pertensives. Methods. The intervention was undertaken in a community s etting with a factorial randomised controlled trial and blinded assess ment of blood pressure. One hundred and eighty one healthy adult volun teers with a sedentary lifestyle and on pharmacological therapy for hy pertension briskly walked for 40 minutes three times for week with or without salt restriction. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were a ssessed at three and six months. Results. Of the original 208 particip ants 181 (87%) completed the study. Significant reductions of up to 7 mm Hg were found in systolic blood pressure at 3 months for brisk walk ing alone (p=0.04) and salt restriction alone (p=0.03) but not for the combined intervention (p=0.17). No significant change was found for d iastolic blood pressure. There was no significant change in blood pres sure at 6 months. Conclusions. Simple advice on exercise and sodium re striction in a community setting can signficantly lower systolic blood pressure at least for 3 months. The combination of the two interventi ons was less effective than each therapy alone.