Have you heard about the "silent killer"?

During my regular visits to my doctor, for years now, my blood pressure was regularly and predictably measured at 120/80. After all, I exercised every day and kept my body weight within normal ranges. Then something happened after menopause. My blood pressure started climbing. I do not know if it was the fact that now I was over 50, going through some emotional hard times, eating too much processed food, sugar, coffee - but there it was, my blood pressure was now regularly over 135/80 and sometimes even a little higher. My doctor did not seem too alarmed about my readings. She was confident that everything was going to be fine. I started to do research to find out about this "silent killer".

Hypertension is a widespread health problem that affects nearly 25% of the adult population in the United States (Fang, Wylie-Rosett & Alderman 2005). Hypertension increases the risk of cardiovascular disease—the number-one cause of death in the U.S.—and other maladies, including renal disease, stroke, heart failure and peripheral artery disease. Although hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 140 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > 90 mm Hg, risk factors can be seen when blood pressure is as low as 115/75 (SBP/DBP) and begin to double in risk for every 20/10 increase (Pescatello et al. 2004a). A new classification, “prehypertension” (SBP = 120–139 and DBP = 80–89), has been introduced to identify individuals who are at a higher risk of developing the condition.

As you can see, hypertension can have serious consequences. However, the good news is, exercise is one of the best ways to combat hypertension according to American Heart Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, and more (Wallace 2003). But how much exercise is required? What about diet and weight loss? In my next few blogs I will answer these questions and more.

To be continued

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Catherine D'Aoust at GAIA Adventures, Personal Training/Kinesiologist, Workshops
www.gaiaadventures.com
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