Gaby
Consistent exercise at any age helps protect against high blood pressure. But a recent U.S. study found people tend to ‘fall off the track’ as they get older: the older they become, the more likely they are to cut back on—or stop—exercising.
A team from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) enrolled 5,100 American adults from four cities in a long-term study. They focused on the kinds of physical activity that could help prevent high blood pressure across the life course.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an epidemiologist and a study author, says teenagers and people in their twenties are typically very active. But that activity often dwindles as they get older.
What the Researchers Discovered
Over three decades, the team tracked participants with clinical exams and surveys about healthy habits, including exercise. They also recorded smoking and alcohol use and how often participants used them.
At each clinic visit, staff measured blood pressure three times, one minute apart. They found physical activity dropped between ages 18 and 40 for everyone, and the odds of developing hypertension rose in later decades.
That suggests young adulthood is a crucial window to build habits that prevent later hypertension. During these years, people should cultivate regular exercise.
Young people should aim for more challenging, vigorous activity. But participants showed what Jason Nagata, the study’s lead author and a young-adult medicine specialist, called ‘suboptimal levels of physical activity.’
Volunteers who did about five hours a week of moderate exercise in early adulthood had a significantly lower risk of developing hypertension.
The team found many young people struggled to keep up routines as pressures and responsibilities grew. After high school, opportunities for activity often drop—people move into college, careers, and parenthood—and they no longer control their free time the way they used to.
Despite these challenges, there are steps people can take to protect their health. Regular exercise in early adulthood can help prevent high blood pressure later in life.
Hypertension – A Ticking Time Bomb
High blood pressure affects about one in five women and one in four men worldwide, and more than 63 percent of people over 60 have it. Most people with hypertension don’t know they have it, which is why it’s often called a ‘silent killer.’
Hypertension raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and it’s a major contributor to dementia.
The study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
