Is exercise good for high blood pressure?. Issue 6344 (18th September 1982)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wilcox, R G; Bennett, T; Brown, A M; Macdonald, I A
• Is Part Of: BMJ. Volume 285:Issue 6344(1982)
• Page Start: 767
• Page End: 769
• Publication Date: 1982-09-18
• Subjects: Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine; Periodicals; 610
• DOI: 10.1136/bmj.285.6344.767
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-1447

Abstract

Abstract : Ten men with uncomplicated essential hypertension (mean standing blood pressure 165/109 mm Hg) and 10 normal controls matched for age and weight were studied for the hypotensive potential of moderate exercise. Tests were conducted on a treadmill set to induce a steady heart rate of 120 beats/min and performed over five 10-minute periods separated by three minutes' rest and finishing with 30 minutes' sitting quietly in a chair. During exercise the mean systolic pressures were identical in the hypertensive patients and controls (175±SEM 5 mm Hg), the controls therefore sustaining an appreciably greater increase in pressure. During the 30-minute rest period after the tests both the control and hypertensive groups showed a significant and sustained fall in absolute systolic pressures as compared with pre-exercise values (p <0·001), the mean percentage reductions being 22% and 25% respectively. If a fall in blood pressure after exercise is maintained for four to 10 hours, then a "good walk" twice a day might be reasonable treatment for mild hypertension. Studies are continuing to determine the amount of exercise needed and the duration for which the reduction in blood pressure is maintained.