Effect of Mild Aerobic Exercise Training on Systematic Arterial Compliance in Elderly People over 70.

It has been reported that a decreased systemic arterial compliance (SAC)increases with an increase in aerobic capacity through mild aerobic exercise training in middle-aged and elderly (under 70)people. This study investigated whether SAC might be increased with an increase in aerobic capacity during submaximal exercise through mild aerobic exercise training even in elderly people over 70. Seven elderly people (70∼78 years old)performed 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training (cycling at 80% ventilatory threshold for 30 minutes, 5 days/week). SAC and the oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold(V̇O_2VT) were measured before and after the training. SAC and V̇O_2VT increased in the majority of subjects(4/7 and 5/7)after the exercise training, although there were no statistically significant changes in the mean value of the indexes. Further study increasing the number of subjects is necessary to clarify whether SAC could be increased by mild aerobic exercise training even in elderly people over 70. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]