Abstract
This study was designed to investigate the effect of DASH diet and aerobic exercises on
cardiovascular risks in postmenopausal women. Forty obese postmenopausal women participated in this study.
They were selected randomly from the outpatient clinic of New Cairo General Hospital in Cairo. Their ages
were ranged from 50 to 60 years old and their body mass index was 30-35 kg/m². They were divided into two
equal groups; group A (Control group) consisted of 20 women treated by antihypertensive medication only
(angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors) once daily for 3 months, group B (Study group) consisted of 20
women treated by the same medication as in group A in addition to DASH diet and aerobic exercise in the form of
walking on electronic treadmill with moderate intensity for 30min.,3days/week for 3 months. BMI was assessed
by using standard weight-height scale, Blood pressure (BP) measurement was assessed by sphygmomanometer
and lipid profile test was assessed by blood analysis for all women in both groups (A, B) before and after
treatment. Results of this study found that, there was a statistically significant difference in systolic and diastolic
BP, High density lipoprotein(HDL), Low density lipoprotein(LDL), cholesterol and triglycerides(TG) at post
treatment in compare to pre-treatment (P value = 0. 001) in both groups A and B. Between groups, there was no
statistical significant difference in systolic and diastolic BP, HDL, LDL, cholesterol and TG pretreatment, but
there was a statistically significant difference in systolic and diastolic BP, HDL, LDL, cholesterol and TG post
treatment (favoring group B). Accordingly, it could be concluded that DASH diet in addition to aerobic
exercises had significant effect in lowering both systolic and diastolic BP and improving lipid profile and could
be included in the intervention program of hypertensive postmenopausal women.