Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a common illness characterized by excessive pressure in your arteries when your heart delivers blood to your body. If you have hypertension, you can develop a number of serious pathological --- disease-related --- body changes, including narrowed arteries, heart attack and kidney or heart failure. You can lower your risks for these dangerous changes with regular exercise.
Pathological Changes
You can develop hypertension if your artery pressure is too high when your heart actively contracts or when your heart rests between contractions. In most cases, people with hypertension experience no noticeable direct symptoms. However, over time, the effects of high arterial pressure can weaken and enlarge your heart, create dangerous bulges in your arteries called aneurysms, cause bleeding or bursting in the blood vessels that feed your eyes and significantly limit normal blood flow in your brain, kidneys, legs and heart. In addition to heart and kidney problems, unaddressed hypertension can eventually lead to blindness, stroke or limb amputation.
Aerobic Exercise
Exercise achieves its anti-hypertensive effects by strengthening your heart. When your heart is stronger, it delivers blood to your body with less physical strain; in turn, this reduced strain lowers the pressure generated inside your arteries. To receive the hypertension-easing benefits of your activity, you must perform aerobic exercises, which work both your heart and your lungs. Exercises in this category include walking, swimming, cycling, stair climbing and jogging. You can also participate in sports such as tennis or basketball, or engage in everyday activities such as raking leaves or mowing the grass.
Significance
As you age, your chances of developing hypertension increase. However, you can use exercise to partially offset the effects of aging and keep your blood pressure risks low. If you already have hypertension, exercising regularly can help reduce your risks of pathological complications. Regular exercisers without hypertension can reduce their risks of the disorder by anywhere from 19 percent to 30 percent. Conversely, middle-aged people who don't get regular exercise increase their risk of developing hypertension by roughly 50 percent.
Considerations
Do some form of aerobic activity for roughly 30 minutes at least four days a week. If you're new to exercise, begin with smaller amounts of activity and build up to a full routine. In most cases, it takes one to three months for regular exercise to alter your blood pressure. Talk to your doctor before you start exercising, especially if you already have a hypertension diagnosis. Hypertension-easing effects of exercise last only as long as you remain physically active.
References
- PubMed Health: Hypertension; July 29, 2010
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: What Are the Signs and Symptoms of High Blood Pressure?
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise: A Drug-Free Approach to Lowering High Blood Pressure (Page 1); Aug. 5, 2010
- American Council on Exercise: Exercise and Hypertension; Brad A. Roy, Ph.D., F.A.C.S.M.
