Gaby
Research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) finds that regular exercise can help people keep their blood pressure in a healthy range. Staying active throughout life makes the biggest difference.
“Teenagers and people in their early 20s are usually physically active, but they tend to lose that activity as they age,” noted epidemiologist Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a co-author of the study.
Previous studies have already linked physical activity and blood pressure. The study’s authors say the strongest defense against hypertension is building exercise habits early and maintaining them for life. They also suggest that the intensity of exercise should be higher than earlier recommendations, Science Alert reports.
What Did the Researchers Discover?
The team followed more than 5,100 adults in four U.S. cities. For three decades they tracked participants’ health using medical exams and habit surveys — covering exercise, smoking, and alcohol use — and paid special attention to blood pressure.
The results showed that men and women across racial groups had a sharp drop in physical activity between ages 18 and 40. In the decades that followed, rates of hypertension rose while activity levels continued to fall.
The researchers say this suggests young adulthood is a critical window for preventing high blood pressure later in life.
“Almost half of our participants were insufficiently active in their youth, which significantly impacted their development of hypertension in later years,” said lead author Jason Nagata, a youth health expert at UCSF. He argues that people should make intense physical exercise a regular part of their lives.
Participants who did about five hours a week of moderate physical activity in early adulthood — double the usual minimum recommendation for adults — had a substantially lower risk of developing hypertension, especially if they kept exercising into their 60s.
The team says many people find it hard to keep up physical activity in adulthood, especially when new responsibilities arrive. “After finishing high school, opportunities for physical activity diminish as people enter college, start working, and become parents; their free time becomes increasingly limited,” Nagata said.
The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a serious condition affecting billions worldwide. It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and even dementia.
The World Health Organization estimates one in four men and one in five women globally have hypertension. Most people with high blood pressure don’t know it, which is why the condition is often called a “silent killer.”
