• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
  • STEPS Virtual
  • FAQ
  • Links
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • 615.269.8844

STEPS Fitness

Nashville's Premier Personal Fitness Training Center

  • STEPS Virtual
  • Programs
    • STEPS Fitness Presents Events
    • DR. Irv’s Perfect Exercise Minute
    • Training Packages
    • Group Offerings
    • Corporate Wellness
    • Traveler’s Special
  • Personal Trainers
    • Dr. Irv Rubenstein
  • Testimonials
  • Fitness Blog
    • Dr Irv’s Fitness Blog
    • Exercise of the Month
  • Newsletters
    • Fit Happens
    • Real News Newsletter
  • Search

April 5, 2022 By Irv Rubenstein

REAL News – April 2022

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

REAL News March 2018April 2022

Why Postmenopausal Women Have Higher Exercise BP 

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the “fight or flight” response that leads to elevated heart rates (HR) and blood pressures (BP.) Interestingly, postmenopausal women tend toward a higher BP response to exercise than younger women. This “exaggerated exercise-induced BP response” is thought to increase cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women. But no one has yet elucidated why this happens despite the many times we’ve discussed it, such as here and  here.

Using a hand-grip, isometric exercise, known to cause BP to rise, a group of researchers used a method – microneurography – that assesses how frequently the nervous system fires at rest and during this exertion. They compared beat-to-beat BP responses in pre- and post-menopausal women; they also tested a small group of the latter after a month of transdermal estradiol (hormone) therapy, which has benefits in other areas, too.  

As they’d hypothesized, the sympathetic nervous system is “overactive and increases to a greater extend in the postmenopausal women” leading to larger BP responses. Interestingly, those on hormone therapy had reduced BP responses compared to their unmedicated colleagues.

The obvious conclusion was that postmenopausal women do, indeed, experience higher BP responses to particular types of exercises – isometrics, in this case – and that estradiol therapy might prevent them from developing BP-related cardiovascular disease.

Since exercise is known to reduce one’s risk of heart disease, even though hormone therapy is not considered a primary prevention against it, it might be worthwhile for clinicians to monitor BP in postmenopausal women during exercise to determine if it might help them.                                         

MSSE Mar. 2022

The Vitamin D Non-Issue

Vitamin D has seen a major resurgence of interest in the face of data that has suggested that D-deficiency is highly correlated to adverse covid outcomes. Long held as a crucial component of bone-density therapy, D is held in high regard by many clinicians, especially given the fact that so many older people are deficient, even if they spend a lot of time outdoors. For those who are deficient, the mortality risk from heart disease is elevated but a study out of Australia showed that “older adults without deficiency [get] no significant benefit in terms of survival outcomes…”

In a placebo-controlled trial, 20,000+ adults (average age – 69) were given a D supplement of 60,000 IU once a month or a placebo. Even the placebo group was allowed to continue taking 2000 IU. Over a follow-up period of 5.7 years or so, they found no differences between the groups for heart disease or cancer mortality. 

Two factors are at play here. First, does boosting those who are not deficient improve their risk of dying from heart disease? The answer is, probably not. Second, was the study done over a long enough period of time to declare with certainty in either direction? Probably not. 

One other factor to consider: as one Nashville endocrinologist said, in a personal note, since most Americans are going, at some point, to become deficient in D, why not start taking supplements before you become so. “You don’t wait to run out of gas to stop at the gas station to fill up.”  

Medscape Jan. 2022

Tid Bits

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) has many potential causes and few sure-fire solutions. A small cohort of 113 people with CLBP was divided into 2 groups: 2 x 60-minutes of physical therapy or 2 x 60 minutes of pool therapy for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, half of the pool patients reported significant improvements in pain compared to 21% of the PT patients. Even a year later, this difference held. Swimsuits, anybody?                           Harvard Health Letter Apr. 2022

 

Exercise is medicine, it’s said. But how does it help the brain, other than by maintaining healthy blood flow? A post-mortem analysis of more than 400 people’s brains – with their permission, and after they’d died, obviously – showed that those who’d been active late in life had “higher amounts of synaptic proteins,” those that provide “connections between the brain’s nerve cells.” Many of these were found in the hippocampus, the memory center, but also in areas associated with cognition. Those who’d been the most active and had remained so longer had the most synaptic proteins.                                                                 Harvard Men’s Health Letter Apr. 2022

 

In a report from Medscape (Mar. 2022), we learn that blood pressure (BP) measurements taken with the wrong size cuff can lead to some very disconcerting results. For example, if the cuff is too large, you might get a systolic BP reading on average 3.6 mm Hg lower. And if the cuff was too small, as in using a regular cuff vs a large adult cuff, you might get an average 4.8 mm Hg higher than what you’d get if you used the right sized cuff. And if you should be using an extra large adult cuff, a large adult cuff might overstate your BP by 19.5 mm Hg. Diastolic readings, the lower number, are also susceptible to misstating your true BP. This information means that using too small a cuff could characterize ~39% of patients as hypertensive, while using too large a cuff might miss 22% of those who should be deemed hypertensive. 

Related Posts:

  • REAL News - March 2022
    REAL News - March 2022
  • REAL News - May 2020
    REAL News - May 2020
  • REAL News - April 2021
    REAL News - April 2021
  • REAL News - May 2022
    REAL News - May 2022
  • REAL News - February 2022
    REAL News - February 2022
  • REAL News - April 2020
    REAL News - April 2020
  • REAL News - January 2022
    REAL News - January 2022
  • REAL News - November 2021
    REAL News - November 2021

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Real News Tagged With: arthritis, brain health, Exercise, hormone replacement, postmenopausal blood pressure, sphygmomanometry, vitamin D

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

FREE Consultation!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

  • Exercise of the Month
  • Fit Happens
  • Fitness Blog
  • General News
  • Newsletters
  • Real News
  • Trainers

Tags

achieve well-being aging Alzheimer's disease barefoot running body fat bone density burn off excess weight calories cardio cardiovascular childhood obesity coronavirus covid diabetes diet dieting eating disorders Exercise exercise intensity field of health or exercise science fitness flexibility functional fitness health Heart Health higher risk of obesity lose weight mental health musculoskeletal improvements obesity osteoporosis physical activity physically active protein reduce your risk of falling resistance training running Senior Training slows cognitive decline strength training Stretching training weight loss Weight loss vs Exercise gain weight management

Recent News

May 01

REAL News – May 2022

Apr 05

REAL News – April 2022

Mar 01

REAL News – March 2022

Feb 07

Dr. Irv Rubenstein contributes to journal article on lunges

Feb 01

REAL News – February 2022

STEPS Fitness
Reviewed from Google

5 out of 5 stars

Anne Jones
Anne Jones

5 out of 5 stars

posted 2 weeks ago

You can feel comfortable anytime in this gym but especially during a pandemic. It is very clean and a great place to get exceptional instruction. Thanks Irv.

Big Don
Big Don

5 out of 5 stars

posted 1 year ago

This was my very first experience with a private gym and personal trainer. The owner and trainer made me feel very comfortable and at home. The gym is very clean and well equipped. I felt the price was VERY well worth the time attention I received. I will return once my work schedule becomes more predictable.

Read All 36 Reviews

Search Our Directory

Footer Widget Header

Affiliations

  • american-college-of-sports-medicine
  • american-council-on-exercise
  • biometrics
  • exercise-etc-inc
  • national-strength-and-conditioning-association
  • renewed-support

STEPS Fitness | 2424 21st Ave. S. Suite #100 | Nashville, TN 37212 | 615.269.8844 p

© 2022 Nashville's Premier Personal Fitness Training Center | Designed by Ponder Consulting ®

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok