Tuesday, 24 November 2009

• Physical Exercise Associated With Reduced Cardiac Risk Factors

  
  source

  Physical exercise is related to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease with normal blood pressure or mild hypertension. Physical exercise is important for cardiovascular health because it helps make the respiratory and circulatory systems more efficient. As you use aerobic exercise to improve your health, you will make it possible for your lungs to use more air and your heart will have to beat fewer times to circulate the blood appropriately. That means you will be putting less strain on your heart and the rest of your system.

  The researchers at Duke University Medical Center, found that moderate to intense physical exercise and conditioning, such as 12 miles of brisk walking each week, can provide significant improvements in fitness levels while reducing the risks of developing cardiovascular disease. Dr. Plantinga and colleagues studied 400 middle-aged patients with normal blood pressure and varying degrees of hypertension and relatively low levels of physical exercise.
   
  The data from this study confirmed that hypertensive patients had stiffer arteries than those with normal blood pressure, and also found that of the patients with normal or mild hypertension, subjects with low level of physical activity had stiffer arteries than those with higher levels of physical exercise. For patients with moderated to severe untreated hypertension, however, a correlation between physical exercise and arterial stiffness was not observed.
   
  Even for patients with moderate to severe hypertension in the absence of pharmacological treatment who got plenty of physical exercise, their arterial stiffness was no better than those with low levels of exercise,” said Dr. Plantinga. Our findings suggest that untreated hypertension seems to level out the beneficial impact of physical activity on cardiovascular risk.

  Were you aware of the heart-benefits to exercise?  Do you exercise to promote a healthy heart?

  Contributed from www.chicnhealth.com.

  • 12:00 AM
  • 490 Views
  • 8 eProps
  • 4 Comments