CHANGES OF CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL HEMODYN AMICS DURING ISOMETRIC AND DYNAMIC EXERCISE IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER REGULAR SAUNA THERAPY

Effective treatment of hypertension includes decrease of blood pressur e at rest, dynamic and isometric exercise. Therefore, we investigated the hemodynamic changes by radiocardiography (central hemodynamic) and Xenon-133-muscle clearance (peripheral hemodynamic) before and after a sauna treatment during a period of 3 months. 46 hypertensive men (WH O I-II, aged 41 +/- 11 years) participated in the study. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure at rest and during dynamic exercise were decr eased significantly (p less than or equal to 0.01) by sauna therapy. C hange of blood pressure at isometric exercise was not significant (fro m 157.5 +/- 16.5 mm Hg to 155.0 +/- 15.4 mm Hg). The changes of cardia c output and total peripheral resistance were also not significant. Ha lf-time of muscle clearance decreased significantly (from 4.4 +/- 1.9 min to 3.2 +/- 1.2 min, p less than or equal to 0.01) and functional c ross-section A increased significantly (from 3.8 +/- 0.9 mm(2).c to 4. 4 +/- 0.9 mm(2).c, p less than or equal to 0.01) after the sauna thera py at dynamic exercise, but not at isometric exercise. These results s how the changes between isometric and dynamic exercise, which can only be explained well by a study of peripheral hemodynamic. Contrary to d ynamic exercise, sauna therapy did not significantly decrease blood pr essure at isometric exercise.