HHS HealthBeat (August 23, 2012)

Lower high blood pressure

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

If a parent had high blood pressure, you can have a higher risk. And researchers say that being physically inactive piles more risk onto that. But the researchers say being even moderately active cuts into the higher risk.

At the University of South Carolina, Robin Shook looked at almost five years of data on about 6,000 people. A third said a parent had high blood pressure.

Shook says inactive people with a family history had a 70 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension, than fit people with no family history. But he says:

“Regular physical activity will reduce your risk of developing hypertension if you have a family history of hypertension.”

The study in the journal Hypertension was supported by the National Institutes of Health. 

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August 23, 2012