Exercise and other nonpharmacological strategies to reduce blood pressure in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The incidence of hypertension increases with advancing age and represents a significant burden of disease. Lifestyle modification represents the first-line intervention in treatment algorithms; however, the majority of evidence for this comes from studies involving young participants using interventions that may not always be feasible in the elderly. This manuscript presents a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials involving participants with a mean age of 65 or over investigating nonpharmacological strategies to reduce blood pressure (BP). Fifty-three randomized controlled trials were included. The majority of interventions described aerobic exercise training, dynamic resistance exercise training, or combined aerobic and dynamic resistance exercise training (COM), with limited studies reporting isometric exercise training or alternative lifestyle strategies. Aerobic exercise training, dynamic resistance exercise training, COM, and isometric exercise training all elicited significant reductions in both systolic and diastolic BP, with no additional benefit of COM compared with single modality exercise training. Three months of traditional exercise-based lifestyle intervention may produce a reduction in BP of approximately 5 mmHg systolic and 3 mmHg diastolic in older individuals, similar to that expected in younger individuals.

Long-term survival of non-smokers undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate long-term survival of non-smokers undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). METHODS: A prospective database of consecutive patients was retrospectively analysed and cross correlated with the UK strategic tracking service to evaluate survival after primary CABG. Univariate, multivariate and a propensity analyses were performed. RESULTS: We analysed 13 337 primary CABG procedures. Median follow-up was 7 years. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrate that non-smokers have a significantly improved long-term survival compared with ex- and current smokers, P < 0.0001. Cox regression analysis identified smoking status, age, diabetes, ejection fraction (EF), body mass index, cerebrovascular disease, dialysis, left internal mammary artery (LIMA) non-usage, postoperative creatinine kinase muscle-brain isoenzyme (CKMB), radial artery usage, preoperative rhythm, forced vital capacity (FVC) and logistic EuroSCORE as significant risk factors determining long-term survival. Propensity matching resulted in 3575 non-smokers being matched 1:1, with ex-smokers. After matching, univariate analysis demonstrated the significantly worse long-term survival of ex-smokers compared with non-smokers, P < 0.0001. Cox regression analysis identified smoking status, age, postoperative CKMB, cerebrovascular disease, dialysis, diabetes, EF, FVC, LIMA non-usage, radial artery used, sinus rhythm and logistic EuroSCORE as significant risk factors determining long-term survival. Survival by smoking status plotted at the mean of the covariates, prepropensity matching, demonstrated that non-smokers had a significantly better long-term survival than ex-smokers, P < 0.0001; however, after propensity matching, non-smokers under 65 years of age had a significantly worse long-term survival compared with ex-smokers, P < 0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: Non-smokers under the age of 65 years of age have significantly worse long-term survival compared with ex-smokers after risk factor adjustment. We speculate that this is because ex-smokers have had the causative factor, smoking, removed, but non-smokers have not.

Long-term survival of patients with pulmonary disease undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate the long-term survival of patients with obstructive, restrictive and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as defined by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). METHODS: A prospective database was retrospectively analysed and cross-correlated with the UK strategic tracking service to evaluate survival after primary coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed. Three separate multivariate analyses were performed: COPD GOLD criteria for obstructive and/or restrictive lung disease, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and the FEV1/FVC ratio to investigate the effect of FEV1 and FVC individually. RESULTS: We analysed 13 337 primary CABG procedures. The median follow-up was 7 years. Univariate analysis demonstrated that obstructive (P < 0.0001), restrictive (P < 0.0001) and mixed obstructive and restrictive pulmonary disease (P < 0.0001), and COPD as defined by the GOLD criteria (P < 0.0001), are all significant factors determining long-term survival. Cox regression analysis identified age, diabetes, moderate LV, poor LV, peripheral vascular disease, dialysis, left internal mammary artery (LIMA) usage, EuroSCORE, cardiopulmonary bypass and creatinine kinase muscle-brain isoenzyme as significant factors in addition to pulmonary disease that determine long-term survival. Moderate and severe COPD defined by GOLD criteria were significant factors determining long-term survival, but mild COPD had no significant effect. Obstructive and restrictive lung disease were both significant factors determining long-term survival. Restrictive lung disease, however, carried a greater prognostic significance (higher hazard ratio 2.2 vs 1.6) than obstructive. LIMA utilization in patients with COPD was not associated with an increased intensive care unit stay, re-intubation rate or in-hospital mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary disease is a significant factor determining long-term survival. Patients with severe COPD still have a relatively good long-term survival and should not be denied surgery. LIMA utilization in patients with COPD results in a significantly increased long-term survival, without an increased intensive care unit stay, re-intubation rate or in-hospital mortality rate.

Long-term survival after coronary artery bypass surgery stratified by EuroSCORE.

OBJECTIVES: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is performed for symptoms and for prognostic reasons. The EuroSCORE is widely utilized as a pre-operative risk prediction tool. We evaluated our long-term survival figures based on EuroSCORE. METHODS: A prospective database was retrospectively analysed and cross correlated with the UK strategic tracking service to evaluate survival after primary CABG. Patients were grouped based on their logistic EuroSCORE 0 to <5, 5 to <10, 10 to <15, 15 to <20, 20 to <25 and ≥25. RESULTS: We analysed 13,337 primary cardiac procedures. A total of 9961 procedures had a logistic EuroSCORE of 0 to <5, 2041 of 5 to <10, 636 of 10 to <15, 281 of 15 to <20, 137 of 20 to <25 and 281≥25. Long-term survival is significantly affected by logistic EuroSCORE, P < 0.001. Patients with a logistic EuroSCORE <5% had significantly better initial survival and a lower rate of death over a 10-year period, P<0.001. Patients with a logistic score over 25 had a significantly worse 5-year survival, P<0.001. Logistic EuroSCORE was poor at predicting survival when >5 and <25. Cox multivariate regression and neuronal network analysis confirmed that the additional factors, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), post-operative myocardial creatinine kinase myocardial isoenzyme (CKMB) and left internal mammary artery (LIMA) usage, which are not incorporated in EuroSCORE significantly predict long-term survival. CONCLUSIONS: Logistic EuroSCORE is a reasonable approximation for long-term survival after CABG, if the score is <5; however, its predictive capacity is limited due to the absence of LIMA usage, BMI, diabetes and CKMB in its calculation, all of which are significant factors affecting long-term survival.