Abstract
Brazo-Sayavera, Javier, Alba Camacho-Cardenosa, Talita Morais Fernandes, Jamille Guedes Malta Argolo, Ana Paula Morais Fernandes, Carlos Arterio Sorgi, Elisângela Aparecida da Silva Lizzi, and Átila Alexandre Trapé. Effects of moderate-intensity cyclic normobaric hypoxic training on cardiovascular disease risk factors of patients recovered from COVID-19: The AEROBICOVID randomized controlled trial. High Alt Med Biol. 26:265–272, 2025.
Objectives:
The aim was to analyze the effects of a training program under hypoxic conditions compared with a control and normoxia training program on cardiovascular disease risk factors in patients recovered from COVID-19.
Methods:
A total of 67 patients were randomly assigned to the control group, training and recovery with hypoxia (TH:RH), training in normoxia (TN) and recovery with hypoxia (RH), and TN and recovery in normoxia (RN). Anthropometric, body composition, respiratory, and cardiometabolic risk factors were analyzed before and after intervention.
Results:
All intervention groups had positive effects on various health outcomes in patients recovered from COVID-19. The reduction in waist, hip, and waist/hip ratio, glycaemia, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol indicates improvements in cardiovascular health. The increase in the forced expiratory volume in 1 second suggests improvements in respiratory health. In addition, the decrease in cardiovascular disease risk score indicates a reduction in overall cardiovascular disease risk.
Conclusions:
The study provides evidence to support the clinical benefits of moderate-intensity intermittent hypoxic training as a part of the treatment of patients recovered from COVID-19. It may also provide evidence on the efficacy and safety of intermittent hypoxic training in different health conditions. The study was registered at the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (RBR-5d7hkv).
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