Cardiovascular Responses During Resistance Exercise in Patients With Parkinson Disease

Background: Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) present cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction that impairs blood pressure control. However, cardiovascular responses during resistance exercise are unknown in these patients. Objective: To investigate cardiovascular responses during resistance exercise performed with different muscle masses in patients with PD. Design: Prospective, repeated-measures. Setting: Exercise Hemodynamic Laboratory, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of Sao Paulo. Participants: Thirteen patients with PD (4 women, 62.7 +/- 1.3 years, stages 2-3 of the modified Hoehn and Yahr scale; "on" state of medication) and 13 paired control patients without PD (7 women, 66.2 +/- 2.0 years). Interventions: Both groups performed, in a random order, bilateral and unilateral knee extension exercises (2 sets, 10-12 maximal repetition, 2-minute intervals). Main Outcome Measurements: Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were assessed before (pre) and during the exercises. Results: Independent of set and exercise type, SBP and HR increases were significantly lower in PD than the control group (combined values: +45 +/- 2 versus +73 +/- 4 mm Hg and +18 +/- 1 versus +31 +/- 2 bpm, P = .003 and .007, respectively). Independently of group and set, the SBP increase was greater in the bilateral than the unilateral exercise (combined values: +63 +/- 4 versus +54 +/- 3 mm Hg, P = .002), whereas the HR increase was similar. In addition, independently of group and exercise type, the SBP increase was greater in the second than the first set (combined values: +56 +/- 4 versus +61 +/- 4 mm Hg, P = .04), whereas the HR increases were similar. Conclusions: Patients with PD present attenuated increases in SBP and HR during resistance exercise in comparison with healthy subjects. These results support that resistance exercise is safe and well tolerated for patients with PD from a cardiovascular point of view supporting its recommendation for this population.