Table 1.

Demographic, health conditions, medications and baseline physiological parameters of the study participants.

Characteristics	Young (n = 21)		Elderly (n = 30)
	n	%	N	%
Sex
Male	12	23.5	11	21.6
Female	9	17.6	19	37.3
Race
American Indian or Alaska native	0	0	0	0
Asian	0	0	0	0
Black or Afro‐American	1	2	1	2.0
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	0	0	1	2.0
White or Caucasian	17	33.3	28	54.9
Asian Indian	3	5.9	0	0
Ethnicity
Hispanic/Latino	0	0	1	2.0
non‐Hispanic / non‐Latino	21	41.2	29	56.9
Highest level of education
Academic doctorate degree	6	11.8	3	5.9
Professional doctorate degree	3	5.9	0	0
Master degree	4	7.8	4	7.8
Bachelor degree	4	7.8	6	11.8
Other, no college or university degree	4	7.8	17	33.3
Handedness
Left	1	2.0	0	0
Right	20	39.2	30	58.8
Active diseases
Hypertension (controlled)	0	0	10	19.6
Other cardiovascular diseases	0	0	3	5.9
Diabetes mellitus (controlled)	0	0	2	3.9
Hypothyroidism	0	0	1	2.0
Other metabolic disorder	0	0	9	17.6
Psychiatric disease	0	0	8	15.7
Neurological disease	0	0	3	5.9
Diseases of bones, joints and muscle	2	3.9	13	25.5
Other medical conditions	3	5.9	12	23.5
Current smoker	1	2.0	0	0
Medications
AT1‐receptor blocker	0	0	5	9.8
ACE‐inhibitor	0	0	5	9.8
β‐blocker	0	0	2	3.9
Ca‐antagonist	0	0	4	7.8
Diuretic	0	0	7	13.7
Statin	0	0	10	19.6
Estrogen supplement	0	0	2	3.9
Thyroid supplement	0	0	8	15.7
Other prescribed drugs	2	3.9	18	35.3

Baseline data	Mean	S.D.	Mean	S.D.
Systolic blood pressure* [mmHg]	115.7	16.7	126.1	12.6
Diastolic blood pressure [mmHg]	74.4	7.4	77.5	8.1
Mean arterial blood pressure* [mmHg]	88.2	8.2	93.7	8.4
Heart rate [beat per minute]	67.6	8.8	63.1	8.9
Body mass index* (BMI)	23.9	3.3	28.0	4.5

*: p<0.05