INTRODUCTION:
Patients with Chagas disease often have high blood pressure (HBP) as the main co-morbidity. In hypertensive individuals with and without Chagas disease, the control of hypertension is generally through medication. Alternative intervention measures such as aerobic exercise have been recommended as an effective way to reduce blood pressure levels.
OBJECTIVE:
Assess the influence of exercise on blood pressure in hypertensive women with and without Chagas disease.
METHODS:
Nineteen volunteers divided into two groups: G1 (nine with Chagas disease) and G2 (ten without Chagas disease) were submitted to a training program for 12 weeks, during 30 to 60 minutes, twice a week. The systolic (PAS) and diastolic (PAD) blood pressure and heart frequency (FC) were analyzed before and after the effort at the beginning (T0), after six weeks (T6) and twelve weeks (T12)..
RESULTS:
In T6, significant improvement was observed in PAS pre- and post- effort and the PAD post-effort, for both groups. In T12, G1 showed significant improvement for all variables, except FC after effort and G2 for PAS before and after effort and FC after effort. There was no significant difference between G1 and G2 for all variables.
CONCLUSION:
Low-intensity aerobic exercise significantly reduces blood pressure in women with Chagas disease, can be performed safely and incorporate patients with this disease into the routine practice of exercises.
arterial hypertension; Chagas disease; physical exercise; female gender
