Gaby
According to research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), maintaining normal blood pressure is achievable through regular exercise. This habit should accompany individuals throughout their lives.
“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 established a link between physical activity and blood pressure. However, the authors of this new research emphasized that the best defense against hypertension is cultivating a habit of physical activity during youth and maintaining it throughout life. Moreover, the intensity of the exercise should be higher than what experts recommended in previous years, as reported by Science Alert.
What Did the Researchers Discover?
The university team involved over 5,100 adults from four cities across the U.S. in their study. For three decades, researchers tracked the health of participants using medical devices and surveys about their habits, including exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Special attention was given to measuring blood pressure.
The results showed that both men and women from various racial groups experienced a sharp decline in physical activity between the ages of 18 and 40. In the following decades, hypertension rates among participants increased while their physical activity continued to decrease.
According to the researchers, this indicates that young age is a crucial period for preventing hypertension, which poses a risk as individuals grow older.
“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 believes that people should make intense physical exercise a regular part of their lives.
Participants who engaged in moderate physical activity for five hours a week in early adulthood (which is double the minimum recommended amount for adults) had a significantly lower risk of developing hypertension, especially if they continued exercising until the age of 60.
Researchers noted that many people find it challenging to maintain physical activity in adulthood, especially when faced with serious decisions and responsibilities. “After finishing high school, opportunities for physical activity diminish as people enter college, start working, and become parents; their free time becomes increasingly limited,” stated Jason Nagata.
The findings of the study were published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a serious condition affecting billions of people worldwide. It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and even dementia.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four men and one in five women globally suffer from hypertension. However, most people with high blood pressure are unaware of their condition. For this reason, hypertension is often referred to as a “silent killer.”
