High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is one of the leading causes of chronic illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure, worldwide. A ‘silent killer’, high blood pressure does not show any signs or symptoms until it is diagnosed. This is why managing blood pressure is crucial. A new study has found that one can lower blood pressure naturally through five minutes of exercise.
A new study conducted by the ProPASS (Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep) Consortium, an international academic collaboration led by the University of Sydney and University College London (UCL), found that even five minutes of exercise a day can lower blood pressure. The findings are published in Circulation.
How to lower blood pressure naturally
The researchers found that even small lifestyle changes, such as incorporating a few minutes of exercise, can lower blood pressure. Even a small amount of physical activity, such as uphill walking or stair-climbing, may help to lower blood pressure.
The researchers said that while just five minutes of physical activity can lower blood pressure, increasing it can lead to added benefits. Replacing sedentary behaviour with 20-27 minutes of exercise per day, including uphill walking, stair-climbing, running and cycling, can result in a significant reduction in blood pressure.
“High blood pressure is one of the biggest health issues globally, but unlike some major causes of cardiovascular mortality there may be relatively accessible ways to tackle the problem in addition to medication. The finding that doing as little as five extra minutes of exercise per day could be associated with measurably lower blood pressure readings emphasises how powerful short bouts of higher intensity movement could be for blood pressure management,” Joint senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the ProPASS Consortium from the Charles Perkins Centre, said in a statement.
What is hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a consistently elevated blood pressure level. It is one of the biggest causes of premature death globally. Hypertension affects 1.28 billion adults around the world, and if left unmanaged, it could lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney damage, and many other health problems.
The study
To understand the effects of exercise on blood pressure, the researchers analysed health data from 14,761 volunteers in five countries. They analyzed how replacing one type of movement behaviour with another across the day helped. The participants were given a wearable device to measure their activity and blood pressure throughout the day and night.
The daily activity was split into six categories: sleep, sedentary behaviour (such as sitting), slow walking, fast walking, standing, and more vigorous exercise such as running, cycling or stair climbing.
The findings
The researchers found that replacing sedentary behaviour with 20-27 minutes of exercise per day can reduce cardiovascular disease by up to 28%. “Our findings suggest that, for most people, exercise is key to reducing blood pressure, rather than less strenuous forms of movement such as walking. The good news is that whatever your physical ability, it doesn’t take long to have a positive effect on blood pressure. What’s unique about our exercise variable is that it includes all exercise-like activities, from running for a bus or a short cycling errand, many of which can be integrated into daily routines. For those who don’t do a lot of exercise, walking did still have some positive benefits for blood pressure. But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect,” first author Dr Jo Blodgett said.
“Our findings show how powerful research platforms like the ProPASS consortium are for identifying relatively subtle patterns of exercise, sleep, and sedentary behaviour, that have significant clinical and public health importance,” Professor Mark Hamer, joint senior author, added.
A new study conducted by the ProPASS (Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep) Consortium, an international academic collaboration led by the University of Sydney and University College London (UCL), found that even five minutes of exercise a day can lower blood pressure. The findings are published in Circulation.
How to lower blood pressure naturally
The researchers found that even small lifestyle changes, such as incorporating a few minutes of exercise, can lower blood pressure. Even a small amount of physical activity, such as uphill walking or stair-climbing, may help to lower blood pressure.
The researchers said that while just five minutes of physical activity can lower blood pressure, increasing it can lead to added benefits. Replacing sedentary behaviour with 20-27 minutes of exercise per day, including uphill walking, stair-climbing, running and cycling, can result in a significant reduction in blood pressure.
“High blood pressure is one of the biggest health issues globally, but unlike some major causes of cardiovascular mortality there may be relatively accessible ways to tackle the problem in addition to medication. The finding that doing as little as five extra minutes of exercise per day could be associated with measurably lower blood pressure readings emphasises how powerful short bouts of higher intensity movement could be for blood pressure management,” Joint senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the ProPASS Consortium from the Charles Perkins Centre, said in a statement.
What is hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a consistently elevated blood pressure level. It is one of the biggest causes of premature death globally. Hypertension affects 1.28 billion adults around the world, and if left unmanaged, it could lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney damage, and many other health problems.
The study
To understand the effects of exercise on blood pressure, the researchers analysed health data from 14,761 volunteers in five countries. They analyzed how replacing one type of movement behaviour with another across the day helped. The participants were given a wearable device to measure their activity and blood pressure throughout the day and night.
The daily activity was split into six categories: sleep, sedentary behaviour (such as sitting), slow walking, fast walking, standing, and more vigorous exercise such as running, cycling or stair climbing.
The findings
The researchers found that replacing sedentary behaviour with 20-27 minutes of exercise per day can reduce cardiovascular disease by up to 28%. “Our findings suggest that, for most people, exercise is key to reducing blood pressure, rather than less strenuous forms of movement such as walking. The good news is that whatever your physical ability, it doesn’t take long to have a positive effect on blood pressure. What’s unique about our exercise variable is that it includes all exercise-like activities, from running for a bus or a short cycling errand, many of which can be integrated into daily routines. For those who don’t do a lot of exercise, walking did still have some positive benefits for blood pressure. But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect,” first author Dr Jo Blodgett said.
“Our findings show how powerful research platforms like the ProPASS consortium are for identifying relatively subtle patterns of exercise, sleep, and sedentary behaviour, that have significant clinical and public health importance,” Professor Mark Hamer, joint senior author, added.
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