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 African-Americans who reported getting the ideal amount of moderate
to vigorous physical activity at the start of the study were about
24 percent less likely to have hypertension, or high blood pressure,
years later compared to those who weren't active, researchers found.
They write in the journal Hypertension that African-Americans have
the highest rate of high blood pressure of any racial or ethnic
group in the U.S. The condition is tied to health conditions such as
heart attack, stroke and kidney disease, and to premature death.
"If you’re African American, your odds of developing hypertension is
pretty high," said lead author Dr. Keith Diaz, of Columbia
University Medical Center in New York. "If you’re worried about
hypertension or high blood pressure, one of the things you can do to
prevent it is physical activity and exercise."
While physical activity is considered a key tool for preventing poor
health, the researchers write that evidence of its effectiveness in
preventing high blood pressure among African-Americans was lacking.
The 1,311 African-Americans in the study were all participating in
the Jackson Heart Study. When they enrolled in the study, none of
them had high blood pressure. Their physical activity levels were
recorded when they first entered the study between 2000 and 2004,
and they were reexamined for high blood pressure between 2005 and
2008 and again between 2009 and 2013. Half the people in the study
were tracked by the research team for at least eight years.
High blood pressure is typically diagnosed when the top number
reaches 140 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and the bottom number
reaches 90 mmHG. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends
people keep their blood pressure below 120/80 mmHg.
About half of the participants were diagnosed with high blood
pressure over the course of the study.
Compared to people who hadn't been taking part in physical
activities at the start of the study, those who were getting an
intermediate amount (less than 150 minutes per week of moderate
intensity exercise) were 16 percent less likely to develop high
blood pressure later, the researchers found.
Those getting 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise or
at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise were 24 percent less likely
to have developed high blood pressure than people who didn't
exercise.
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The most beneficial type of exercise was physical activity from
sports and exercise - not from home- or work-related tasks like
housekeeping or physical labor.
Diaz told Reuters Health that physical activity related to work at
home or on the job may not increase heart rates enough or for a long
enough period of time to be beneficial.
Dr. Ernesto Schiffrin, a spokesperson for the AHA, said a good
suggestion is for people to do something like taking brisk walks to
meet the 150 minute minimum.
"So it’s 30 minutes most days of the week," said Schiffrin, who
wasn't involved with the new study but is physician-in-chief at Sir
Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.
Exercise should be used in conjunction with other recommendations,
he said, including a healthy diet and low salt intake.
"These are not difficult to implement," said Schiffrin. "Managing
time of course is important and more or less difficult for some
people, but the benefits are probably huge."
The researchers caution that the study's findings are limited. For
example, participants may have inaccurately reported their amounts
of physical activity. Additionally, the findings are drawn from a
single population of people in one U.S. community, and their
exercise habits were only measured at one point in time.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2kaeRaL Hypertension, online January 30, 2017.
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