DID you know that 50% of South Africans don’t even know they suffer from high blood pressure? If left undetected and untreated, it carries significant health risks.
Chronic high blood pressure may lead to a heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease, or a stroke.
If you consider that one out of every three persons experiences chronic high blood pressure some time during his or her life, you may want to make this one of your New Year resolutions to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis.
Hypertension can be treated with anti-hypertensive medication, but medication is very expensive and certain drug therapies might have adverse effects on some individuals. In other words, the health benefits from the pharmacological treatment may not outweigh the risks.
Exercise, on the other hand is inexpensive, easily accessible and has shown positive effects on hypertension in the long run.
Exercise can also be beneficial in the short term due to a drop in blood pressure after exercise that can last from one to 22 hours. This phenomenon is called post-exercise hypotension.
Exercise has numerous other health benefits such as weight loss, decreased body fat percentage, increased muscle mass, increased ability to perform activities of daily living and a decreased risk for metabolic diseases like diabetes.
Exercise also reduces anxiety, stress and depression, while it improves self-esteem and the sense of well-being.
Through regular exercise you may therefore not only protect yourself from developing high blood pressure, but you will also gain other significant health benefits.
The good news is that if you already suffer from high blood pressure, exercise will lead to a significant decrease in blood pressure and in many cases this can be accomplished without medication.
The Department of Sport Science is conducting a research project to study the effect of exercise on blood pressure. They are looking for volunteers, men and women, who have high blood pressure, but who do not take medication for it.
You will undergo a series of health risk assessment tests, as well as exercise tests and 24 hour blood pressure monitoring.
These tests, if done at a medical facility, will cost you up to R2000, but when you participate in this project all testing and exercise sessions will be free of charge.
For more information about the project or if you want to volunteer for the study, you can contact Aletta Esterhuyse at 021-808-2818 or 083-941-2793 or you can email her at 14061910@sun.ac.za.
