抄録
Central arteries have the ability to buffer and cushion changes in blood flow and blood pressure. Increase in arterial stiffness impairs this buffering function and contributes to elevation in systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and cardiac afterload. Such stiffness increases with advancing age and constitutes an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to prevent and treat age-related increase in arterial stiffness. Lifestyle modification, including regular exercise and dietary modification, are known to have a favorable effect on vascular aging. A body of evidence indicates that regular aerobic exercise decreases arterial stiffness even in middle-aged and older individuals. However, little is known about the effects of dietary nutrition on arterial stiffness as compared to exercise. Several studies have reported possible positive effects of calorie restriction and ingestion of particular dietary nutrients. Curcumin, a polyphenolic molecule extracted from turmeric, is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Recently, it was documented that chronic curcumin ingestion improves arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older people. The magnitude of improvement by curcumin was similar to that of aerobic exercise training. Moreover, combination of curcumin ingestion with aerobic exercise training led to a greater reduction in arterial stiffness compared to that achieved with either treatment alone. Combination of dietary supplementation and regular aerobic exercise may be more efficacious in counteracting arterial stiffness and vascular aging.
