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Whole Body Vibration Therapy And High Blood Pressure Patients


If you happen to smoke, suffer from diabetes or are overweight and have elevated cholesterol levels, most likely you have developed high blood pressure. However, people who have an active lifestyle and a healthy weight can also suffer from this condition, the potential causes and risk factors of high blood pressure being a variant amount.

Blood pressure in itself is not a medical condition, but a measure of the force of blood that pushes against the blood vessels walls.

The blood is carried throughout the body via arteries and veins, so whenever the heart pumps blood into the vessels, there’s a certain force pressing on the walls.

The typical values for blood pressure average out around the following:

  • 120/80, where 120 defines the systolic pressure, and 80 the diastolic pressure.

  • Values that exceed 120/80 and go up to 139/89 are considered pre-hypertension, while values over 140-150/90-99 are considered high blood pressure (stage 1).

  • Also, anything that’s above 160/100 is considered stage 2 high blood pressure.

These values can go in a handful of ways with older individuals, or in kids, compared to adults. In addition, they might be a little different in professional athletes as well. Generally, high blood pressure tends to run in families and is more common in men. Furthermore, it can affect people aged 40 and above, but is more likely to be around in adults and seniors over 65 years of age.

Talking about causes, except for age, genetics and family history, hypertension can also a result of:

  • Long-term smoking

  • Excess weight

  • Eating too much salt

  • Drinking too much alcohol

  • Having a completely sedentary lifestyle

In addition, people who have stressful jobs, as well as those people who suffer from thyroid disorders, chronic kidney disease or sleep apnea are more likely to have high blood pressure as well.

Furthermore, Hypertension can become dangerous and even life-threatening if not taken care of, as it can favor the hardening of blood vessel walls and the development of atherosclerosis, as well as other conditions such as kidney disease, or even stroke and heart failure.

Increasing the level of physical activity you do every day can be effective in keeping your blood pressure in average limits. Scientific evidence displays that 30 to 60 minutes of exercise, three-four times per week can drastically help decrease the values of blood pressure, being just as effective as medications in some sufferers.

Effects Of Whole Body Vibration Exercises In Individuals With High Blood Pressure

Since whole body vibration was found to exert effects comparable to conventional strength exercise in healthy adults, scientists wanted to see if this form of training is also suitable for hypertension sufferers.

IN recent studies, Iranian researchers from the Farhangian University investigated the use of Whole Body Vibration in patients with high blood pressure, results of their study being published in the International Journal of Sport Studies. With this study, they wanted to determine whether whole body vibration training performed for 1 month has any effect of blood pressure, three months after the intervention.

For this study they recruited 9 inactive women aged 40 to 53 years, participants performing 11-17 minutes of Whole Body Vibration at 25-35 Hz, completed at one session per day. The blood pressure was measured after 1 month and after three months, results showing no significant difference in the investigated parameters.

The researchers came to a conclusion that Whole Body Vibration does not have the potential to reduce blood pressure in middle-aged, inactive women, so it’s not a good substitute for exercise in this case.

On the other hand, US researchers from The Florida State University discovered that exercising on a whole body vibration machine can actually reduce arterial stiffness and decrease cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women with hypertension.

Their study was published in the journal Menopause and investigated the effects of vibration workouts on arterial stiffness, blood pressure and leg muscle function in 35 women with hypertension or prehypertension.

Participants performed whole body vibration exercises for 12 weeks, and results showed a decrease in blood pressure and an increase in muscle strength in the Whole Body Vibration group compared to the control group. It was concluded that whole body vibration machine training does in fact help improve systemic and leg arterial stiffness and blood pressure, enhancing muscle strength in postmenopausal women with higher than normal blood pressure.

Researchers from Taiwan gathered similar results when investigating the effects of whole body vibration therapy on cardiovascular disease risk factors, in middle-aged and older adults. A total of 38 adults joined this study and were divided into a Whole Body Vibration and a control group, each of them performing specific exercises for 3 months. The vibration therapy group was exposed to Whole Body Vibration at 3.2 G’s and 30 Hz, doing standing exercises.

The results showed that after three months there weren’t significant changes in blood pressure or heart rate in either of the groups, but the arterial stiffness was lower in the whole body vibration group. Scientists concluded that Whole Body Vibration has positive effects on arterial stiffness and can be a safe supplementary exercise for adults and elders.

For more health and fitness tips, whole body vibration training ideas, Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber Updates, and industry news, make sure to follow our blog at: https://www.vibratrim.net/blog

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