Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Feb 26, 2015; 7(2): 47-51
Published online Feb 26, 2015. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v7.i2.47
Exercise training in the management of patients with resistant hypertension
Fernando Ribeiro, Rui Costa, José Mesquita-Bastos
Fernando Ribeiro, Rui Costa, School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, Portugal and CINTESIS.UA, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
José Mesquita-Bastos, School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portuga
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Fernando Ribeiro, PhD, School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, Building 30, Agras do Crasto, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. fernando.ribeiro@ua.pt
Telephone: +351-23-4372455 Fax: +351-23-4401597
Received: October 16, 2014
Peer-review started: October 20, 2014
First decision: November 20, 2014
Revised: December 4, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 17, 2014
Published online: February 26, 2015
Processing time: 118 Days and 1.7 Hours
Abstract

Hypertension is a very prevalent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of resistant hypertension, i.e., uncontrolled hypertension with 3 or more antihypertensive agents including 1 diuretic, is between 5% and 30% in the hypertensive population. The causes of resistant hypertension are multifactorial and include behavioral and biological factors, such as non-adherence to pharmacological treatment. All current treatment guidelines highlight the positive role of physical exercise as a non-pharmacological tool in the treatment of hypertension. This paper draws attention to the possible role of physical exercise as an adjunct non-pharmacological tool in the management of resistant hypertension. A few studies have investigated it, employing different methodologies, and taken together they have shown promising results. In summary, the available evidence suggests that aerobic physical exercise could be a valuable addition to the optimal pharmacological treatment of patients with resistant hypertension.

Keywords: Exercise training; Resistant hypertension; Blood pressure; Non-pharmacological; Cardiovascular disease

Core tip: Taken together, the available evidence indicates that, unless there is a contraindication to performing physical exercise, patients with resistant hypertension should be encouraged to engage in regular aerobic physical exercise in addition to the optimal pharmacological treatment.