Exercise as a Therapeutic Intervention for Hypertension

Abstract

Increasing levels of physical activity, together with reduced sodium intake, weight loss, and limited alcohol consumption are therapeutic lifestyle changes known to effectively reduce blood pressure (1). Data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study support the fact that cardiovascular fitness is inversely related to the development of hypertension, diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, and hypercholesterolemia (2). Dynamic aerobic training, in particular, has been shown to lower conventional and daytime blood pressure readings among hypertensive patients (3). In general, exercise provides a substantial benefit for patients with both hypertension and cardiovascular disease and reduces the 10-year cardiovascular risk by 25% (4). From a clinical standpoint, a reduction of as little as 3mmHg in average population systolic blood pressure (SBP) has been estimated to reduce coronary heart disease by 5-9%, stroke by 8-14%, and all-cause mortality by 4%. Two other advantages of exercise as a therapeutic intervention are its positive effect on multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors and the fact that moderate exercise is low risk and has very few contraindications for most people.