Effects of arm swing walking incorporate with Buddhist meditation exercise program on endothelial dependent vasodilation and physical fitness in elderly with depression

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the effects of the novel Buddhism-based walking meditation (arm swing walking incorporating with Buddhist meditation; ASW) program on functional fitness, endothelium-dependent vasodilation and depression scores. A total of 40 participants with mild to moderate depressive symptoms were randomly allocated to the sedentary control (n=13), Traditional walking (TW; n=13), and ASW groups (n=14). Both exercise training programs were designed to yield the mild (20-39%HRR) to moderate (40-50%HRR) intensity, 3 times/ week for 12 weeks. The results showed that body mass, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased in both TW and ASW groups and a significant decrease in body fat percentage was observed only in the ASW group (p<0.05). Maximal oxygen consumption, muscle strength, flexibility, agility, and dynamic balance increased in both exercise groups (p<0.05). Moreover, significant reduction in plasma cholesterol, triglyceride, and C-reactive protein and flow-mediated dilation induction were found in both exercise groups (p<0.05); however, the improvement of endothelial-dependent vasodilation was greater in the ASW group more than traditional walking group. Also, interleukin-6 concentrations, depression score were decreased only in the ASW group. We concluded that both TW and ASW were effective in improving endothelial-dependent vasodilation and physical fitness. But the ASW program appears to confer greater improvements in vascular function and depression than the TW program.