EXERCISE BLOOD PRESSURE

Report #6767 3/31/96

Having high blood pressure increases your chances of getting a heart attack. A recent study in the medical journal, Hypertension, shows that a steep rise in blood pressure during exercise is an even more sensitive predictor of future heart attacks.

From 1972 to 1975, doctors measured the blood pressure of middle-aged men at rest and after they pedalled a stationary bicycle for 6 minutes at a light fixed work load. They then followed the men and found that a rise in exercise blood pressure to more than 200 mm of mercury was twice as dependable as a predictor for heart attacks and death as a resting blood pressure of greater than 140.

A blood pressure of 120 over 80 means that it is 120 when your heart contracts and 80 when it relaxes and fills with blood. During exercise, your heart contracts with greater force and your blood pressure rises. The harder you exercise, the higher your blood pressure rises. Well-trained athletes can have much higher blood pressures than those who are not in shape because they can exercise more intensely. It is normal for conditioned runners to increase their blood pressure to around 200 over 80 when they run very fast and for weight lifters to raise their blood pressures to 300 over 200 when they lift very heavy weights with their legs. However, with lesser effort, they get lower blood pressures. If your blood pressure rises above 200 when you pedal a stationary bicycle at moderate effort, you are at increased risk for a heart attack and should check with your doctor and should start a low-fat diet immediately.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News