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Exercise Alone Does Not Reduce Risk of Hypertension

Bruce Goldfarb

Regular exercise is healthful and improves arterial elasticity in adultswith normal blood pressure or mild hypertension, but physical activity aloneis not enough to lower the cardiovascular risk of severe hypertension,according to research by Yvonne Plantinga, MD, of University of Pisa, Italy,and colleagues presented at the annual meeting of the American Society ofHypertension, held May 14–18 in San Francisco.

In the absence of drug therapy, exercise has no effect on arterialstiffness—a factor involved in hypertension and a risk forcardiovascular disease—say researchers who studied 400 middle-agedpatients with normal blood pressure and varying degrees of hypertension, allof whom reported relatively low levels of physical activity.

Participants were interviewed about their occupation and physicalactivities and had arterial stiffness measured by applanation tonometry, atype of pulse-wave analysis.

Studies show that moderate to intense exercise for at least 3 hours perweek can reduce arterial stiffness. Plantinga's group observed the beneficialeffect of physical activity, but only among those with normal blood pressureor mild hypertension. For patients with moderate to severe untreatedhypertension, no link was found between exercise and arterialstiffness.

"Physical activity does not undo the damage of high bloodpressure," Plantinga says. "The arteries of hypertensives are muchmore stiff than [those of] normotensives. If you have chronically elevatedblood pressure, there are structural changes of the arteries" thatappear to permanently affect the elasticity of the vessels.

Plantinga warns that the findings do not undercut the healthful value ofregular exercise, only that the effects on arterial stiffness were lesspronounced. She adds that hypertension often requires dietary changes and drugtherapy for adequate control.

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