Research suggests that if we want to protect ourselves against high blood pressure, we must maintain our exercise levels up to middle age.
The gym is indicated only to young people over 18 years of photo archive
According to a study conducted on more than 5,000 people from four American cities, social factors can make this more difficult for some than for others.
“Adolescents and those at the beginning of the age of 20 can be physically active, but these models change with age”, explained the author of the study and epidemiologist Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in April 2021, when the study was published in the American Journal of Medicine, writes Sciencealert.
Numerous studies have shown that physical exercises lower blood pressure, but research from 2021 suggests that “Maintaining physical activity during young adults – at higher levels than previously recommended – may be particularly important for prevention of hypertension“Bibbins-Domingo said.
High blood pressure, also known as high blood pressure, is a serious condition that affects billions of people around the world. This can lead to heart attack and stroke; It is also a risk factor for developing dementia at older ages.
According to the World Health Organization, one in four men and about each fifth woman suffers from high blood pressure. But most people with high blood pressure do not even know that they have it – that's why it is often called “The silent killer”.
However, there are ways to reverse the tendency to increase blood pressure: this study focused on exercise.
Over 5,100 adults were recruited in the study, which followed their health condition over three decades through physical assessments and questionnaires on their exercise habits, smoking and alcohol consumption.
At each clinical evaluation, the blood pressure was measured three times, one minute away, and for data analysis, the participants were grouped into four categories, depending on race and sex.
In general – in men, women and both racial groups – physical activity levels have dropped from 18 to 40, and high blood pressure rates have increased and physical activity has decreased in the following decades.
According to researchers, this suggests that young adulthood is an important window to intervene to prevent hypertension in the middle of life with health promotion programs to stimulate physical exercise.
“Almost half of our participants in the young adulthood have had suboptimal levels of physical activity, which were significantly associated with the onset of high blood pressure, indicating that we must raise the minimum standard for physical activity.” said the main author Jason Nagata, UCSF expert in the medicine of young adults.
When the researchers looked at people who did five hours of moderate physical exercise per week at the beginning of adults – double compared to the minimum amount recommended for adults – found that this level of activity has considerably reduced the risk of high blood pressure and especially if people have maintained exercise habits up to 60 years.
“Touching at least twice as much as the current minimum recommendations of physical activity for adults can be more beneficial for preventing hypertension than the simple fulfillment of minimum recommendations,” the researchers wrote in their work.
But it is not easy to intensify the weekly physical activity in the middle of decisions that change life and growing responsibilities.
“This could be especially true after high school, when the opportunities for physical activity diminish as young adults go to college, workforce and parent status, and free time is eroded,” said Nagata.
Differences between “white” and “black”
Regarding another truth that is to think, the study has also shown how men and women of color have extremely different health trajectories compared to their white counterparts. At the age of 40, the levels of physical activity stabilized among white men and women, while the levels of activity of the color participants continued to decrease.
Up to 45 years old, women of color have exceeded white men in terms of high blood pressure, while white women have recorded the lowest rates of high blood pressure.
And until the age of 60, between 80 and 90% of men and women, they had high blood pressure, compared to little below 70% of white men and about half of white women.
The research team has put these well-known racial disappearances on account of a multitude of social and economic factors; Not that these factors were evaluated in this study, although high school education was noted.
“Although young men of color can have a high commitment in sports, socio-economic factors, neighborhood environments and professional or family responsibilities can prevent continuous commitment to physical activity until adulthood.”
said Nagata.
