Short-Term Aerobic Exercise Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hypercholesterolemia

OBJECTIVE - The relationship between increased arterial stiffness and cardiovascular mortality is well established in type 2 diabetes. We examined whether aerobic exercise could reduce arterial stiffness in older adults with type 2 diabetes complicated by comorbid hypertension and hyperlipidemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - A total of 36 older adults (mean age 71.4 +/- 0.7 years) with diet-controlled or oral hypoglycemic-controlled type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an aerobic group (3 months vigorous aerobic exercise) and a nonaerobic group (no aerobic exercise). Exercise sessions were supervised by a certified exercise trainer three times per week, and a combination of cycle ergometers and treadmills was used. Arterial stiffness was measured using the Complior device. RESULTS - When the two groups were compared, aerobic training resulted in a decrease in measures of both radial (-20.7 +/- 6.3 vs. +8.5 +/- 6.6%, P = 0.005) and femoral (-13.9 +/- 6.7 vs. +4.4 +/- 3.3%, P = 0.015) pulse-wave velocity despite the fact that aerobic fitness as assessed by Vo(2max) did not demonstrate an improvement with training (P = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS - Our findings indicate that a relatively short aerobic exercise intervention in older adults can reduce multifactorial arterial stiffness (type 2 diabetes, aging, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia).