Effects of Antioxidant Vitamins & Minerals Supplementation on Blood Pressure and Lipids in the Elderly with Hypertension

항산화 비타민과 미네랄 보충이 고혈압 노인의 혈압과 혈중 지질에 미치는 효과

Purpose: The Purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of antioxidant vitamins and minerals supplementation on blood pressure and lipids in the elderly with hypertension. Methods: This study adopted a unequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. For this study, 79 subjects with hypertension were selected among the home visiting clients of public health centers. The experimental group received 12-weeks' treatment with antioxidant vitamin A, C, E, carotene, magnesium and selenium and the control group did not take any antioxidant vitamin and mineral. Results: There were statistical differences in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure between the experimental group and the control group after the intervention. In the experimental group, systolic blood pressure decreased from 145.4mmHg before the intervention to 135.7mmHg after the intervention, and diastolic blood pressure decreased from 88.3mmHg before the intervention to 81.9mmHg after the intervention. However, there were no statistical differences in total cholesterol and triglyceride between the experimental group and the control group after the intervention. Conclusions: A short-term supplementation with antioxidant vitamins & minerals can reduce blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension. The continuous effects of the supplementation and its beneficial effects on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases still need to be studied further.