Exercise hypertension
Encyclopedia
Exercise hypertension is an excessive rise in blood pressure
during exercise. Many of those with exercise hypertension
have spikes in systolic pressure to 250 mmHg or greater.
A rise in systolic blood pressure to over 200 mmHg when exercising at 100 W is pathological, and a rise in pressure over 220 mmHg needs to be controlled by the appropriate drugs.
Similarly, in healthy individuals the response of the diastolic pressure to 'dynamic' exercise (e.g. walking, running) of moderate intensity is to remain constant or to fall slightly (due to the improved blood flow), but in some individuals a rise of 10 mmHg or greater is found.
Recent work at Johns Hopkins involving a group of athletes aged 55 to 75 with mild hypertension has found a correlation of those with exercise hypertension to a reduced ability of the major blood vessels to change in size in response to increased blood flow (probably due to impaired function of the endothelial cells in the vessel walls). This is to be differentiated from stiffness of the blood-vessel walls, which was not found to be correlated with the effect.
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
during exercise. Many of those with exercise hypertension
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
have spikes in systolic pressure to 250 mmHg or greater.
A rise in systolic blood pressure to over 200 mmHg when exercising at 100 W is pathological, and a rise in pressure over 220 mmHg needs to be controlled by the appropriate drugs.
Similarly, in healthy individuals the response of the diastolic pressure to 'dynamic' exercise (e.g. walking, running) of moderate intensity is to remain constant or to fall slightly (due to the improved blood flow), but in some individuals a rise of 10 mmHg or greater is found.
Recent work at Johns Hopkins involving a group of athletes aged 55 to 75 with mild hypertension has found a correlation of those with exercise hypertension to a reduced ability of the major blood vessels to change in size in response to increased blood flow (probably due to impaired function of the endothelial cells in the vessel walls). This is to be differentiated from stiffness of the blood-vessel walls, which was not found to be correlated with the effect.