Low Levels Of Physical Activity, Fitness May Increase Risk Of Developing High Blood Pressure

From ACC Newsletter:

HealthDay (6/1, Gordon) reported that "low levels of physical activity and fitness significantly increase the risk of developing high blood pressure, a 20-year study of young adults shows." The research is published online in the journal Hypertension.

        WebMD (6/1, Hendrick) reported that "hypertension incidence was 13.8% per 1,000 person-years, a calculation found by taking the number of new cases within a specified time period divided by the size of the population initially at risk." The researchers found that "low fitness was associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure after adjusting for smoking, age, sex, cholesterol, race, diet, and other factors." The data indicated that "the estimated proportion of high blood pressure that could be prevented if participants moved to a higher fitness category was 34%