Exercise as it relates to Disease/Hypertensive Medication and Implications for exercise

Hypertension is a disease known to affect the blood pressure within the body and is associated with all cause mortality, strokes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, peripheral arterial disease and renal insufficiency. Hypertension is a term used to describe high blood pressure within the body. Blood pressure is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through your body. The universal diagnosis for hypertension is a systolic blood pressure of 140mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure of 90mmHg. It is known to have a high prevalence in those aged 50 years and older although there is an increasing presence within younger years. Treatment for hypertension is often anti-hypertensive drugs along with lifestyle changes like increasing daily exercise. Many of the common anti-hypertensive drugs have adverse effects on the body, which are important to consider when exercising, as this is another major form of treatment.

Causes of Hypertension
There are no underlying causes for hypertension, however the following factors are believed to be involved:
 * Obesity
 * Frequent stress or anxiety
 * Excess alcohol (more than one drink per day for women and more than two drinks per day for men)
 * Increased salt in diet
 * Family history of high blood pressure
 * Diabetes
 * Smoking

Treatment for Hypertension
Exercise prescription for improving VO2 max is also found to be effective in lowering blood pressure in hypertensive individuals. In addition is it also recommended that individuals:
 * Modify diet (i.e. decreasing sodium intake)
 * Reduce weight by increasing daily exercise
 * Limit alcohol consumption
 * Pharmacotherapy

Recommendations
For athletes who are participating in recreational sports it is recommended that they treat their hypertension with ACE inhibitors or calcium channel blockers. These anti-hypertensive drugs prove to have the least adverse effects during exercise. The Heart Foundation suggests 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week.