Exercise and Hypertension

High Blood Pressure? Lose Weight With Exercise

By Malia Frey, About.com Guide

Updated August 27, 2012

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor may have recommended that you lose weight with exercise. But starting an exercise program and trying to lose weight while managing hypertension can be confusing. Use this article as a starting point, along with advice from your physician, to come up with a plan that works for you.

Exercise Benefits for People Who Have High Blood Pressure

One of the greatest benefits of starting an exercise program is weight loss. Losing even a small amount of weight can bring your blood pressure numbers into the normal range. But even if weight loss doesn’t happen right away, just participating in a regular program of moderate exercise can have a positive effect on hypertension.

But the benefits don’t end there. Increasing your physical activity level can also help to decrease your risk of heart disease, prevent type 2 diabetes, reduce stress, decrease your body fat and improve your cholesterol levels. These are all improvements that will boost your overall health profile.

How to Lose Weight Safely

If you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension, be sure to discuss any new fitness program with your doctor. Mary Moon, M.D., a practicing family physician, counsels many of her patients to lose weight. She explains that many of them have high blood pressure along with other conditions including obesity or type 2 diabetes. While a weight loss exercise program may improve these conditions, she explains that it is important to seek specific guidelines.

“There is no question that exercise is an essential element that will help normalize blood pressure but individuals need to make sure they are doing the right exercises at the right intensity tailored to their particular exercise level or else it may be dangerous for them.”

She recommends that you start off slowly and gradually increase the time and intensity of your workout as your exercise tolerance improves.

Exercise Guidelines for People Who Have High Blood Pressure

When you discuss a weight loss program with your physician, you can use these guidelines as a starting point for setting up goals. Then, tailor a schedule that works for you.

• The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week for treatment of high blood pressure.


• The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes each day (most days of the week) to achieve heart health.


• The American College of Sport Medicine recommends at least 250 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise to achieve significant weight loss.

If you are on blood pressure medication, you should also talk to your physician about the best way to monitor your exercise intensity. To lose weight, you want to make sure that you are working at the correct exercise intensity level, but some methods of measuring your level may not be effective if you are on a prescription pill. Heart rate monitors, for example, might not work if your medication keeps your heart beating at a steady rate.

Getting Started with a Program

Whether your goal is to control your high blood pressure, lower your blood pressure or just to prevent hypertension, a weight loss program that includes exercise will help you reach your goals. Get started by talking to your health care team. Then, come up with a plan that you are willing and able to stick to over the long term. 

_{Sources:
High Blood Pressure. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm
Mary Moon, M.D., Interview. August 21, 2012.
Prevention and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Title of Page. American Heart Association. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/PreventionTreatmentofHighBloodPressure/Prevention-Treatment-of-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002054_Article.jsp
Your Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/bp/bp.htm
American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM Position Stand on Physical Activity and Weight Loss. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/acsm-in-the-news/2011/08/01/acsm-position-stand-on-physical-activity-and-weight-loss-now-available}

  

My Thoughts

I've been lucky!  I've never experienced high blood pressure. But this doesn't mean I shouldn't be careful.  Put the extra pounds and the age factor together - that makes anyone a candidate for hypertension.

30 minutes of moderate activity everyday - that's not asking much, is it?   I think I'd rather push myself to walk or to clean the house instead of making that trip to the drugstore for maintenance medicine.

Just be careful - remember I do not have hypertension.  I do not need to consult a doctor.  If you've already been diagnosed with this medical condition, you should be guided accordingly.

 

Why Wait for the Doctor?

Do You Need a Wake-Up Call?

Daily Inspiration

John H. Sklare, Ed.D

Published December 19, 2006

 

So you’ve been thinking about starting an exercise routine to feel better and lose weight.  You’ve been thinking about walking every evening, eating healthier and making real changes in the present to lay the groundwork for a healthier future.  The problem is that you haven’t yet moved beyond the thinking stage.  Well, perhaps I can help you do that today because, when it comes to your health, you don’t want the proverbial wake-up call.

 

The kind of wake-up call that I’m talking about is typically delivered by your doctor.  He or she will look you in the eye, get that very serious look on their face and tell you that it’s time to get serious about your health.  They then tell you that you have to lose weight because you have or are on the verge of developing diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or some other obesity-related illness.  This is a wake-up call I’d prefer you avoid.  However, even a poor health report from your doctor isn’t enough motivation for some to change, but for the wise, they take action.  So, in an attempt to help you avoid that wake-up call from your doctor, allow me to perform a wellness intervention.  If this scenario strikes too close to home for you, why not use me as your wake-up call and avoid that more serious one from your doctor later!

 

Wishing You Great Health,

Dr. John H. Sklare

 

My Thoughts

 

I know a lot of people who don't want to see doctors.  They keep putting things off until it's too late to do something.  Putting off can be caused by a lot of things:  the expense, lack of time or simply fear of knowing we're in a state of sickness and not in a state of health.

 

The fear of seeing the doctor is magnified when we know we have not been taking care of ourselves: no exercise, lack of sleep, unhealthy food intake, stressful way of life.

 

If we're honest with ourselves, we don't really need our doctors to wake us up.  Who wants to be sick?  I would rather die peacefully in my sleep than in a hospital bed, thin and wasted after a series of radiations.

 

Dr. Sklare is right.  Absolutely. This article should be a wake-up call.  We have the choice between sickness and health.  Better start working on the latter.  Now.  Not soon.

 

What' Healthy Breathing

Nose or Mouth? How You Breathe Matters
YOUR DAILY FIT TIP
By Jennifer Gruenemay, ACE-Certified, Special to Lifescript
Published September 20, 2011
from www.lifescript.com

Should you breathe out of your mouth or nose while exercising? And is this really a crucial part of a good workout? It really depends on what type of exercise you’re doing. For low-intensity, meditative moves like yoga, breathing in and out of the nose is best. Why? Because it forces you to breathe slower, which calms the nervous system and promotes relaxation.

But if you’re headed out for a run or to a high-intensity cardio class, nose-breathing probably won’t cut it. For workouts like this, you don’t want to limit the amount of oxygen you deliver to your brain and working muscles. Limiting oxygen means limiting energy production in your cells.

Basically, what it comes down to is doing what works best for you. Your body will tell you if nose-breathing is limiting your air intake because you’ll get light-headed from lack of oxygen to your brain. If you experience any lightheadedness or dizziness, just switch to mouth-breathing. It’s admirable to give nose-breathing a try, but go ahead and take in a big gulp of air through your mouth if you need to.


Check out Health Bistro for more healthy food for thought. See what Lifescript editors are talking about and get the skinny on latest news. Share it with your friends (it’s free to sign up!), and bookmark it so you don’t miss a single juicy post!

MY THOUGHTS

That's something to look into while exercising.  I never took notice.  But I never get dizzy while dancing or walking. So, I guess, I'm breathing properly? 

HOW TO KEEP YOUR MEMORY SHARP

Even Light Exercise Keeps Your Memory Sharp
By Laurie Tarkan | August 2, 2011
From www.bnet.com

Being forgetful is a dreaded affliction of middle age–having words on the tip of your tongue and forgetting what you were just about to say–but it turns out that it doesn’t take much effort to stave off the effects of aging on your memory and your mind.  A growing body of research shows that you can slow the progression of memory loss and dementia by regular light exercise, like by walking or gardening. You don’t have to do moderate to high intensity exercise to get the oxygen flowing to your brain. So if you needed a tad more motivation to walk to work or exercise during your lunch break, here it is:

Go for a walk

In one study published in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario measured the energy expenditure and cognitive functioning of elderly adults for two to five years. The “active” adults did not exercise, but instead did things like walking around the block, gardening and cleaning. But this moderate activity protected them from cognitive decline over several years compared to people who were more sedentary. About 90 percent of those with the greatest daily activity could think and remember just about as well over the course of the study.

Prevent brain shrinkage

Another recent study found that exercise counteracts brain shrinkage that occurs with age. The hippocampus “shrinks” in late adulthood, and this reduced volume is associated with impaired memory and increased risk of dementia, explained Dr. Eric B. Larson, the study’s author. But his study found that hippocampal volume increased by 2% compared with declines in the control groups.

Not Just For The Elderly

One study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine looked at young adults ranging in age from 19 to 29 and found that those who did moderate exercise five times a week for 30 minutes had enhanced memory compared to those who didn’t exercise as much.

Lift Dumbbells

If you can’t get out and walk, strength training may be just as effective. Another study published this month in Neurobiology of Aging found that weight training improved how older women think and changed how blood flows within their brains. Women who lifted weights twice a week for 12 months performed significantly better on mental processing tests than a control group.

“Exercise may turn out to be as close as we can come to the long-sought fountain of youth, and exercise, particularly walking, has no significant adverse effects,” wrote Dr. Larson.

Do you feel your brain works better when you exercise regularly?

MY THOUGHTS

I have to admit that my brain seems to function better when I exercise.  When I'm sedentary, my brain seems to switch off, too. 

In Sickness and in Health: PROTECT YOUR JOINTS

In Sickness and in Health:  PROTECT YOUR JOINTS


Ever heard of osteoarthritis? Dictionary.com defines it as "the most common form of arthritis,  usually occurring after middle age, marked by chronic breakdown of cartilage in the joints leading to pain, stiffness, and swelling."  It's a degenerative joint disease that can cause immobility and extreme pain.  It's a health problem. It's a sickness that can be prevented.

Don't you get scared when you see people who look like this?

I do.  I get really scared.  And that's why I read articles about it.  About health.  About sickness.  And how they can be prevented.

Lifescript.com published "12 ways to Protect your joints" and here's a summary of their suggestions:

1. "Lighten your load" - extra weight causes extra stress to our joints and we become more prone to fractures and injury.  A lot of sickness can be avoided when healthy weight is maintained.  Shedding off those extra pounds can do wonders for our health.

2.  "Get Moving" - a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of osteoarthritis. We need to be physically active to have stronger muscles and to lubricate our joints. Do some housework.  Park a little further away. Go around the block.  Take those stairs.  Dance if you must. (Or you can).  Anything that will get us moving-away from sickness and toward robust health.

3. "Strengthen your Core" - great abs is not only sexy.  It has a lot of health benefits.  Firm abs is equivalent to a firm core. It gives us stability and better control which mean less pressure on our joints.  A firm core is one sure way of staying in good health.

4. Try Tai Chi - This is a form of Chinese Martial arts that requires slow circular and streching movements. The slow, repetitive movements make us more flexible and strong which, in turn, causes less stress on our joints.  Search youtube for some simple tai chi moves if you're not up to spending for a CD.  On the other hand, wouldn't you rather invest on your health rather than spend on medicine and hospital bills because of sickness.

5.  Run Smart - our joints will certainly get more pounding if we prefer running to walking.  But it can be done without getting yourself injured.  Check out this link for some safe running tips.

6.  Load up on fish - Lifescript suggests "at least two servings a week – 3.5 ounces cooked or 3/4 cup canned."  3.5 ounces is almost 100 grams.  That's not much considering the health benefits.  The Omega-3 fatty acids in fish helps in cartilage formation and reduces the risk of joint inflammation.  I'm lucky I love fish.

7.  Do not slouch - this is my biggest problem.  I'm a sloucher.  A big one.  The chiropractor who treated me confirmed this.  As I have slouched all my life, my neck bones and spinal chord are now misaligned.  This causes my perennial headeaches, back pain, hip and knee pains.  So, if you want to stay away from sickness and be healthy, be conscious of your posture.  Slouching "strains our ligaments" while erect posture allows for "even distibution of our weight".  Needless to say,  when you stand and sit erect, there will be less pressure on the joints.

8.  Minimize the use of stilletos - occasional high heels won't do much harm.  But frequent use of shoes with very high heels puts a lot of pressure on knees and hips. In my younger days, I was a stilleto person.  My health was put to risk and I have long ago switched to the comfortable flats.  You don't need to hurt yourself to be stylish.

9.  Go easy on the handbags - those heavy loads are hazardous to your health-to your "joints and wrists.  I know that for a fact.  Raid your handbags and carry only the essentials.  If you must bring a heavy load, go for the backpack.

10. "Don't be a weekend warrior" - What's a weekend warrior?  Someone who does no exercise on weekdays and tries to compensate on weekends.  According to Lifescript, this is damaging to our health and suggests 30-minute exercises on non-weekends.

11. Avoid Processed Foods - Lifescript calls the fats in processed foods destructive.  Do I need to say more?  For obvious health reasons, the best way is to go natural.

12.  Stop when you Have Joint Pain - Pain and swelling is a sign of too much stress.  If you want to have healthy joints, give it some rest.

These are all very sensible reminders.  If you're reading this, you'reprobably at that age where you're starting to feel the pressure on your joints.  I hope we can influence the younger generation to take heed.  Health is not like school exams and reports where we can cram and still, by sheer luck, pass.  Avoiding sickness requires folowing the law of the harvest.  You cannot harvest what you have not planted. 

via Lifescript -

HEALTH TIP ON A BAD BACK

Get Back at a Bad Back
YOUR DAILY FIT TIP
By The Lifescript Editorial Staff
Published May 01, 2011
www.lifescript.com

Ever wonder where your back problems came from? You put undue stress on your lower back (lumbar spine) when you lean forward over your computer keyboards, sit hunched at your desk, slouch in the car, and bend at the waist to pick up your kids.

For the sake of your back, and the body that it supports, get familiar with back-saving techniques. The 3 rules of lifting are:

1. Keep objects close to your body

2. Move your feet instead of twisting at the waist (whether it’s to grab or set down objects)

3. Keep your spine in a neutral position.

Also, never reach for something that’s out of reach – use a step stool instead. And when you can, walk instead of drive, stand instead of sit, and always use good posture.

MY THOUGHTS

Simple enough, right/  And yet we don't take notice-until it's too late. Or almost. 

FOR HEALTH REASONS-TAKE THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Take The Road Less Traveled
Daily Inspiration
John H. Sklare, Ed.D
Published January 19, 2006

“Two roads diverged in the wood, and I – I took the one less traveled.” For those of you who don’t know, that’s a famous line from a poem by Robert Frost called, “The Road Not Taken.”  In a sense, you have a similar choice to make every time you make a health choice.  Do you take the road less traveled or do you take the worn path of habit?  If you continue to struggle with your weight and health, it’s most likely because you continue to walk down the same path day after day.

I suggest you make today the day that you change this pattern.  There are so many things that you can’t control in this world, but what you eat and how you treat your body is absolutely under you control.  If you are not as fit or happy as you would like to be, taking the road less traveled is exactly what you must do to create positive change in your life.  Because, as that old saying so accurately states, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.” Take the road less traveled today and you will end up somewhere much healthier, starting tomorrow!

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare

MY THOUGHTS

For health reasons, I took the 'road less traveled' today.  I took the stairs (all of 5 flights).  And walked. Counted 20,000 steps. No wonder people avoid this road.

Cancers You Can Ward Off with Exercise

7 Cancers You Can Ward Off with Exercise
Nov 12, 2010 | 3:53 PM ET | By Natasha Allen, MyHealthNewsDaily Contributor

A cancer diagnosis can be a devastating event — but some may also be preventable. In fact, an estimated half of all cancer deaths are avoidable by practicing healthy lifestyle habits, according to the American Cancer Society.

One of the most potent cancer-fighting weapons is exercise. While the benefits of a regular fitness program include keeping the pounds off, improving blood pressure and mental outlook, exercise can also halt the onset of some diseases. Several studies have shown that physical activity is linked with decreased risk of some cancers, particularly breast and colon cancer.

It is never too late to begin a fitness program, said Dr. Priscilla Furth, a professor of oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"The good news is that it doesn't matter [when you begin], in that you will see a benefit from exercise at whatever age you are," Furth said.

Here are seven cancers that scientific research has shown can be stalled by exercise:


Endometrial cancer

Women who exercised for 150 minutes a week or more had a 34 percent lower risk of endometrial cancer (a cancer that begins in the lining of the uterus) than those who weren't active, researchers from the Yale School of Public Health reported this week at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference.

The researchers also found women with a body mass index (BMI) below 25 had a 73 percent reduced risk, compared with inactive women whose BMI was above 25. People with a BMI of over 25 are considered overweight.

Colorectal cancer

People who followed healthy lifestyle habits, including exercising for more than 30 minutes daily, lowered their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study published online in October in the British Medical Journal.

In fact, 23 percent of colorectal cancers were preventable, had study participants adhered to the five lifestyle recommendations, according to researchers from the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen. The study was based on a survey of 55,489 men and women between the ages of 50 and 64, who were followed for almost a ten-year period.

Prostate cancer

Though several studies were inconclusive, some findings suggest a link between physical activity and a reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

Men who had regular recreational exercise showed a lower risk of developing advanced prostate cancer or dying from the disease, compared with those who reported no physical activity, according to a 2006 study in the International Journal of Cancer. And a 2005 study of Chinese men in the European Journal of Epidemiology showed moderate exercise may shield against prostate cancer.

Furth advises personalizing an exercise routine. Pick an activity that you enjoy doing, then focus on intensity, she said.

"It is not so much what you are doing but how intense you're doing it," she said. "You can do some vigorous gardening, and you're out there working really hard, digging. Alternatively, you could be going out running so slowly you never even get you heart rate up."

Breast cancer

Women who had a family history of breast cancer reduced their risk by one-fourth by doing 20 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity at least five times a week, along with maintaining a healthy lifestyle in other ways, according to a study published in October in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

Even ex-couch potatoes can reap immediate anti-cancer rewards: postmenopausal women who gave up their sedentary ways and engaged in a moderate- to vigorous- intensity exercise program showed changes in hormone and protein levels consistent with a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a study published online in February in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Some findings suggest that starting an exercise program during adolescence may delay the onset of breast cancer for women who may carry a mutation in their BRCA genes (which are associated with an increased risk for the disease), but it doesn't prevent the disease from developing, Furth said.

Lung cancer

Exercise may reduce the risk of lung cancer for current or former smokers.

University of Minnesota researchers gave questionnaires to 36,929 cancer-free women from Iowa, and followed the participants for 16 years. They found that women with high exercise levels were less likely to develop lung cancer than those who reported low exercise levels, according their 2006 study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

And men and women who participated in moderate and vigorous activities showed a reduced of lung cancer, especially those with low or medium body mass index, and smokers, according to a 2003 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology.


Ovarian cancer

Though additional studies are needed, some evidence suggests a link between exercise and a reduced risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (cancer that is found in the cells on the surface of the ovary). Women who engage in high-intensity activity most often had a reduced risk of invasive ovarian cancer compared to women who reported no regular physical activity, according to a study published in April in the journal Cancer Causes & Control.

Furth's advice to those beginning an exercise program: begin at a low intensity, and gradually work your way up to a moderate level. "What you are aiming for is a cardiovascular workout that really gets your pulse up and gets you sweating," she said.

Gastric cancer

People who reported at least a moderate level of recreational physical activity had a 50 percent reduced risk of gastric cancer, according to a 2008 study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

People who did strenuous physical activity throughout their lifetime also had a decreased risk of incident stomach cancer, according to a 2007 study in the European Journal of Cancer. Cancer Care Ontario researchers found an estimated 20 to 40 percent reduced risk of stomach cancer in those who did strenuous exercise more than three times a week compared with those who exercised less than once a month.

Still, other studies are inconsistent about the link between gastric cancer risk and exercise, and differ in their results based on factors such as diet, body mass index and height.

MY THOUGHTS

if this won't make me move my butt (excuse my french!) then nothing could. fitness is certainly not for beauty only. it's nice to look nice. but it's a lot nicer to have a clean bill of health.