Rescue a dog. Not only will you save a life, but when you come home after a tough day and see how happy she is to see you your stress level goes way down. I have a bigger dog who needs quite a bit of exercise so I walk her at least 3 miles a day which, of course, is good for me, and my blood pressure.
12
Get out of cars, walk, drink water, eat Whole Foods.
5
This is good advice, except for one thing: whole foods should be written in lower case.
1
Exercise is always best but sometime age is big factor here. Yoga is best way to reduce pressure, tense and healthy too. It makes you more flexible and there are tons of other health advantages.
2
If you are in good enough condition to exercise then you shouldn’t have any of the other problems anyway. If you don’t want to exercise then it won’t do any good.
1
Interesting study, but I see no age component in this report of the studies. It would seem from the study design that the comparison groups should be homogeneous with respect to age. Well and good, But then I would ask the question, is this result valid in every age group? I have always been active and enjoyed exercise as a form of recreation, but as I have aged, my ability to engage in vigorous exercise has diminished. No surprise there, but what does this do in actual practice, to the balance between exercise and medications as a way of controlling blood pressure, for example. I’ve always thought that some exercise is much better than no exercise, at any age. But the conclusions of these studies need to be refined as to how applicable they are to different age groups. In the elderly, this controlling of bp through exercise rather than meds may be just wishful thinking.
7
Exercise doesn't have to be in the gym (in fact, just moving more through activities of daily living is better for weight management). It's accessible to most and affordable to all! Take back the power from big pharma!
7
My doctor just put me on blood pressure medications, and I'd love to convince her that they're unnecessary. At 75, I've had normal-to-low blood pressure all my life, and I'm sure that my enjoyment of walking all over Manhattan (especially as subway fares kept rising) helped. But over the past six years I've had both knees replaced, and I was never as slim as I wanted to be (but not as hefty as some of my relatives back home, where everyone drives everywhere and fried foods are favorites). It's harder these days to get out and walk a mile, but I do it occasionally; with the encouragement of this article, I'll try to do it at least twice a week, with my usual briefer walks daily.
11
@carrobin
I hear what you're saying. Have you tried swimming? Also, rowing machines can give you a really good workout.
3
Many medical doctors and all pharmaceutical companies want people to believe that drugs are the solution to physical ailments. The truth is that the right food and plenty of exercise not only can prevent many chronic illnesses but also reverse them. Unfortunately, there is no profit incentive in this approach, so doctors do not tell their patients about this safe and healthful alternative to prescription meds. Did they not learn the quote by Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food?”
19
@M. Staley Doctors do not make a profit from prescribing drugs. We all try to get people to get plenty of exercise . . . but do you think that is what patients want to hear when they go to the doctor? Don't you think they already know that exercise and a good diet are important? But for whatever reason they are not successful in doing this . . . so once we (re) educate the patient, what else can we do but prescribe a drug that for $4 a month remedies a problem that might kill them
18
I have to maintain exercise, drugs and weight to keep normal blood pressure. If I gain 2 pounds, or skip more than 1 day of (vigorous) exercise, or forget to take my pills, my BP starts to climb.
9
I'm age 63 and was diagnosed with high blood pressure in my early 20's. There is no family history of high blood pressure. I've lead a very active lifestyle, eat healthy foods and am at a healthy weight. At my last yearly physical, my doctor challenged me to lower my blood pressure (controlled with medicine) even further.
I was extremely fortunate to find a trainer at the local YMCA in Rhinelander who identified my level of visceral fat, which is quite high (I had never heard the term before). For the first time in my life, I feel a sense of control. Following my trainer's advice on better eating and exercise habits, my visceral fat is dropping. I am motivated - and I see the results!
18
As always, I worry about people’s willingness to conflate a certainly interesting story with magical thinking. I run around 30 miles a week and cross-train with cycling — sometimes I’m training (as I am now for a half marathon), sometimes just exercising. I’m also on 3 blood pressure meds because of genetic predisposition. No amount of exercise will reverse genetics, if that’s the source of the issue. Please, work with your doctor if you’re having stubborn BP issues. Exercise is key, but so is knowing — and controlling! — the source of your particular issue.
9
@baby_lemonade,
While I appreciate and realize we are all different, I would ask you to gently consider diet as part of the cause for blood pressure issues.
Too often, the medical industry is at cross purposes since they are somewhat beholden to other forces.
I would ask you to spend time getting another point of view, which I have found helped to greatly reduce my high cholesterol to more reasonable levels.
The name of the book which helped me to change my thinking, is an easy read with many reviews on a digital retailer we all know -
Food Over Medicine: The Conversation That Could Save Your Life by Pam Popper
If you take the time to explore this point of view, you might be surprised
Regards
JH
5
@baby_lemonade
You might also consider 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed daily. It has been shown, through studies, to be very effective in reducing bp. See the book How Not to Die, by Dr Michael Greger
4
As one for whom pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and banks form an evil trinity, this has given me hope. My family history of high blood pressure has finally caught up with me in middle age, and I was prescribed a very low dose drug that I am loathe to take, although it works. I've slacked off running in recent years, and gained a few pounds. Perhaps concentrating more on exercise, I can toss the pills?
4
I guess we need to study the obvious for doctors to believe it.
3
Please include me/a person like me in a study. 78 years old, Congestive heart failure, diabetes 2, SEPSIS survivor, bone on bone arthritis in both knees, walk in pain, short of breath w a rollator. Lost 70 pounds in past 10 years. In greater pain/less breath, use oxygen at night, have gained 10 pounds in last year. Just Medicare approved for a power chair. A retired Cultural Attaché, a former museum volunteer, I'll be able to visit museum gallery for first time in years ! What is everyone saying? "Oh you must keep walking." Why? So I can endlessly, painfully walk in halls of wonderful senior housing for years? I'll take fewer years with some museum visits, thanks. And it that means continuing a HBP pill, fine with me!
7
@joanplease watch the documentary “Forks Over Knives.” You do not have to suffer from these illnesses. If you eat a largely unprocessed plant based diet (frozen fruits are vegetables are less expensive and nutritionally sound) you can drastically improve your health and possibly get off some or all of your meds. Doctors will not tell you this because they don’t make any money from healthy patients!!
5
This squares with my own experience - 30 minutes at the gym, on a treadmill and elliptical, have the effect of a blood pressure pill and this lasts for a couple hours. The only caveat I would offer is that at age 70, I have to balance the beneficial cardiovascular effect against wear and tear on my feet and ankles; if I push to fast or too long, I'm out of commission for a couple of days.
7
Pretty much astonished that a connection between exercise and wellness, good health is actually news. And look at how qualified, tentative these findings are!
In a sense this is damning of the medical profession and the health care industry, that they have ignored simple, basic matters as this in favor of vastly expensive, complicated protocols, drugs, treatments, and devices that have a far more marginal impact on far fewer people.
An aspect of the overall madness.
33
Keeping one’s mouth shut to fats and sugars does wonders.
13
I have been waiting to express this: most of the comments are both "right" and "wrong"! What I mean is that individual differences in response to diet, exercise, medication and a plethora of other factors all mediated by genes are far, far greater than we think. It's also why studies and randomized trials often conflict with one another.
5
The key is a combination of exercise, diet and drugs if the first two don't do the trick.
9
The pharmaceutical industry is determined to protect their empire. Any alternatives to drugs are regarded as a threat to the profiteers of the medical industrial complex.
Their playbook was revealed in 2003:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/glaxo-chief-our-drugs-do-not-work-on-most-patients-5508670.html
A senior executive with Britain's biggest drugs company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them.
Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them.
7
What kinds of exercises were these? Running, walking, swimming, hiking, riding bicycle? Some information on the exercises engaged in during the trials would help.
21
@Cyril Enwefah
I had the same thoughts. I think results may vary with different types of physical activity.
They mention aerobic exercise.
2
My thought exactly. How did the researchers define "exercise"? What type, at what intensity, for how long? "Exercise" is simply too vague to be useful. Specifics, please.
doing research like this is interesting BUT the sure way to affect your blood pressure and manage hypertension is DIET. what you eat everyday, what you put in your body daily affects it much more than what you do once in a while. and a whole food plant based diet wins all the time.
7
@lola4md ...sadly, diet interventions have lesser effects on BP than exercise does, except in the sense that diet interventions (i.e. caloric restriction) cause weight loss which in turn and for a variety of reasons reduces BP. However, exercise is something you can begin today and get BP effects, whereas of course weight loss takes longer, and it has a host of other benefits besides. Even the traditional view that a higher chronic sodium intake directly affects BP is only true for some people. Plus a single bout of aerobic exercise causes a phenomenon called post-exercise hypotension in many people, which is not only healthy but may increase the likelihood of adherence to an exercise plan.
None of which is to say that diet is unimportant, of course - only that for immediate and continued BP control, exercise and weight management probably beat it.
12
Looks like R68.89 is the ICD-10 code for prescribing exercise. But whither the catered Friday staff lunches, speaking fees and Hawaiian get-aways for those who dare to prescribe so masochisticly?
3
What can you say about sedentarians, die younger, live in pain daily.
2
I lost 15 pounds, started running and my BP just went up. My doctor and I came to the conclusion that I could lose another 15 pounds but my BP was just too recalcitrant not to need meds. For some of us, it’s just genetic.
18
@JA My friend's husband got annoyed at me when my blood pressure and cholesteral readings were fabulous- although I wasn't exercising at all. He was a runner and a bicyclist (and thin as a rail) - but he still had to be on meds for both. Sometimes heredity is destiny.
9
Sure it can work, but how many people will do it.
Many people think rhere is a pill for everything,
See previous comments.
6
Exercise versus drugs? Is this still a question?
The answer is diet - everyone knows that.
5
It’s not that simple. Some people are thin and don’t seem to have healthy eating habits but have high blood pressure. My parents and 4 siblings and I have high blood pressure. That simply can’t be attributed to diet.
7
I love all the people who are commenting that it must be our diet. I’m 48, 114 lbs, 6X/week vigorous exerciser, don’t eat red meat or animal fats, pretty much subsist on vegetables and lean meats and fish. Guess what - my BP went way up last year, for no apparent reason whatsoever. My doctor declared it a mystery. And guess what else - my parents and my brother have high BP.
4
Despite everything you’ve ever read, Total Calories burned cannot be changed by exercise.
4
I’m not surprised. I have high blood pressure and diabetes and exercise does reduce my numbers for of my health issues. It helps that I’m retired also. I’m planning to lose about another 15 pounds I’m
251 and 6’3”. I’m really focusing on my diet this year. Good and low calorie food and no major meals after 7:00 pm.Its a challenge but I have to change my lifestyle. I’m drinking more water
18
"Several drugs currently are approved to trim visceral and other types of fat, including metformin and orlistat." This is incorrect. Neither metformin not orlistat are approved to reduce visceral fat. Orlistat is approved for weight loss, no mention of reduction of visceral fat. Use of metformin for weight management, let alone specifically for reduction of visceral fat, is off-label.
7
"They also rarely compare exercise, head-to-head, with drugs to treat the same condition"
Drugs barely ever are tested head-to-head against each other, too. In matter of fact, the drug manufacturers take pains in making sure that the claims are slightly different from each other to avoid such comparison.
7
Does the exercise in these studies affect visceral fat differently that 'normal' subcutaneous fat?
In my own experience, the visceral kind is nearly intractable. After a prolonged period of inactivity after a serious accident and several surgeries, I put on about 20 pounds of visceral fat, identified as such in a full-body MRI.
The funny things is that US doctors refused to acknowledge it until just last year, citing the liability they would incur for treating a condition that did not officially exist.
Now, no more than 14 months after telling me visceral fat could never be proven to exist without a large-scale study including autopsies (!!), they say it is a metabolic condition that could well kill me.
Please, dear readers, if you know anything about this please kindly offer more sources and names of doctors who might know more.
5
@Bob nutrition facts.org. How Not to Die (book).
1
This will probably not go over well at medical schools.
Doctors have become agents for treating pathology during the past 30 years, not healing it. And insurance and pharmaceutical companies have sealed the deal by making it lucrative to extend, not shorten, an illness.
4
@SequelYou are so right. There is no money in a healthful diet and plenty of exercise.
3
Weight loss and fitness are not necessarily the same thing though by definition you are fitter at ideal body weight (IBW) than if you're overweight.
SLOW weight loss is key to long term success. As soon as one puts on, let's say 10 lbs over 5 years, the brain now erroneously recognizes the new weight as IBW and intensely resists any negative change in it.
I advise my patients that reversing the cause of the weight gain by eating slightly less calories than they are burning e.g. 50-100 calories less/day, over a period of a month they can achieve a weight loss of around 3-4 lbs. That's about 70 to 100 lbs over two years. The stealth is necessary, any drastic loss causes dramatic changes in mood and intense cravings frequently undo any weight loss. I also advise them to gently increase their activity level to burn an extra 50-100 calories/day. Simple walking is often all that is required, though I don't discourage them from more vigorous aerobic exercise, if they have no contraindications. This prescription has often led to sustained wt loss.
One other point, almost all my patients know what they are doing wrong. I ask them and THEY tell me. Insight is key, staying away from concentrated carbs and portion control are the two most important factors in visceral fat loss.
It is impossible to create matter out of thin air. As soon as my patients really understand this basic principle of physics, the battle is won...
17
@Shahbaby
It's great that you're helping people lose weight. Just a comment on the math. If one burns 100 cals per day, that's 36,500 cals per year or 10.42 lbs, with 1 lb generally recognized as 3,500 cals.
1
Yes. do the calorie math, and a marathon burns 1.4 jelly donuts.
But marathoners burn thru much more. I ate like a horse, and went to 150 US lbs with no special effort.
All to show theres much we do not know, and the medical business does not care to research and learn about. of course marathoners don't need all of that, but study of the relationship between calorie intake and fat, especially visceral fat could benefit many many people and help save lives.
This is a good place to hear from any medical professionals in this thread who can comment on why incentives in their business work against this kind of research. yes, big pharmaceutical money does play a role, but it must be more than that.
1
Exercise competes with the drug lobby, the insurance industry, and the easy simplicity of taking a pill—plus every other aspect of the patient's life.
I call it the PR problem: PRecisely what exercise is PRactical, PReferable and PRescribable.
Everybody has the general idea exercise is good for you; healthcare providers need to view it as prescribable medical therapy, and patients need to view it as accessible and enjoyable.
We fail to tailor specific exercise regimens that account for individuals' particular physical challenges (knee, back) and daily routines.
Studies also show exercise is better than caffeine to boost energy and mental clarity. We interrupt school once a day for a gym class that often ignores fitness, not to mention personal challenges and preferences, turning people off to the pursuit.
We need to fix gym in school and then—much like continuing education—provide lifelong access. Daily midday exercise breaks for doctor-prescribed regimens people don't dread. Some like sport, others prefer cycling or swimming or another workout.
Especially in winter months in northern climes, it's tough to incorporate extra daily activity, even more so when a 9-5 job leaves only the darkest and coldest times of day.
We quantify direct health care costs and productivity losses for various ailments. We need to turn it around and acknowledge the preventative benefit value in year-round access to safe exercise infrastructure with some physical therapist monitoring.
8
I just discovered that exercise also works for rheumatoid arthritis. But it has to be fairly intense, and long duration. By that I mean at least an hour or two every other day and sweat running down your back. A half day of running up mountains worked even better--it was painful at first but then I was pain free for days after, swelling completely disappeared. Meds had little effect and big side effects.
I assume this is because of a correlation between the immune system and exercise, but I'd love to understand more. If my immune system is attacking itself, wouldn't an improved immune system attack itself even more vigorously? And why does it work so much better than drugs?
Studies of this sort would indeed be logistically difficult and expensive, and since they might very well support an hypothesis that less drugs are necessary, they are probably less likely to get funded, at least by big pharma. Maybe they can get sponsored by gym franchises or exercise equipment retail...
5
@jm A healthy immune system attacks the "enemies" instead of one's own body. So an improved immune system will not cause so much useless inflammation. Using meds to weaken the immune system helps keep it from attacking your body, but it also makes you more vulnerable to infection. I used to find exercise very effective for quickly reducing the pain of my autoimmune conditions and now (lucky, I realize), good food, sleep and relationship improvements have done the rest to keep it in remission for years. And I rarely even get a cold. Always try lifestyle (and life condition) improvements first, where possible and as far as possible.
5
Just more anecdotal offering, but still perhaps compelling: as a non-athletic 71-year-old fairly small person, with family history of high cholesterol but no regular medications, I have found that exercise (vigorous dog walking, gardening, or even less vigorous yoga and regular stretching and fitness work) keeps me off meds so far and motivated to go for a walk, do some deep knee bends, go to drop-in or other yoga. Who would want to take drugs when you could find ways to stay moving solo or harmoniously with others, and with better spirits?
28
The conclusion doesn’t make sense. How can exercise be better than drugs, if taking drugs led to better outcomes?
Also, what if you did both, exercised regularly and took medication? And what about diet?
7
I am 74 and jog 2 miles 5 or 6 days a week. I ran a quarter mile in high school about 60 years ago and have been running/jogging ever since. I estimate that i have circled the globe over 2X at the equator. I used to run a mile in under 5 minutes. It now takes me 10 minutes. I have found running/jogging to be quite addictive. It has been a major factor in maintaining mental and physical health. MAJOR. I could not imagine doing without. If i am angry ..... i go for a run. Magically the anger dissipates as i cover ground. I always finish "fast" and cross the "finish line" in a state of exhaustion. I feel it is important to sweat. Cleans things out. My blood pressure is healthy and my pulse is around 47.
Running has also taught me much about my body. I have listened carefully to what my body tells me during periods of injury and worked through problems with rest, supplements and therapy.
Recently i have found a new benefit of running. I have started coaching a 17 year old neighbor. I experience great pleasure in passing what i have learned onto a young generation.
Works for me. It, obviously, is not for everyone but ..... your body was designed to move. If you do not move (assuming you are able), you WILL deteriorate and decline much faster than you would if you exercise ..... guaranteed.
40
@frank perkins Running is fantastic.
But many of us cannot run. A number of reasons -- my own is a failed ankle replacement plus complications.
It would be helpful if an expert reading this would be kind enough to post information about different forms of exercise that could achieve the same effect. Cycling seems like a strong candidate, but as an avid cyclist I know it is very different from running. It must be possible for circuit weight training to burn v-fat too.
Many thanks to all!
14
@Bob T
If running is out of the question, then some equipment will probably be required. May I suggest a boat? Rowing, on water, is not only a superb form of exercise, but a kind of spiritual exercise too.
5
@Bob T
I suggest AirDyne cycling. You work all 4 limbs and you have the option of peddling as hard as possible - which you can't always do on the road. Another advantage is you don't have to worry about dodging cars and trucks.
2
In addition to prescribing exercise doctors should also prescribe a plant based diet which has been shown to reduce heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
36
Read Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. if Heart Disease is an issue. He had patients who had a family history of heart attacks in early life, but when they changed their diet extremely, they lived much much longer. Sometimes moderation is not a good thing.
10
I lived this article after my second coronary angioplasty and stent placement. I dropped 70 pounds and self-administered an exercise regimen that allowed me to run a sub two hour half-marathon. Along the way my blood pressure dropped enough (including movement dizziness) that my cardiologist reduced and eventually dropped my blood pressure medication.
But that was 4 years ago. My weight crept up, my exercise became less disciplined and restricted by training injuries, and life’s stresses crashed in with an overseas move and family issues. I resisted going back on medication, but requested that my cardiologist reinstate the prescription last year. Daily blood pressure readings quantified the fact I couldn’t manage my cardiac risks without help.
I know the power of exercise and the power of medication. After my first heart attack, I thought the medication made me invincible. But without lifestyle changes, the medication is a temporary crutch. I don’t want to be on a chronic medication, but I am infinitely grateful that it is available.
23
Watch the documentary “Forks Over Knives.” Eat a largely plant based diet. Ditch dairy (unless you are a cow). Real,food does not have a product label. Leave animals to live their lives, not fill your plate.
1
Ever since I started having steel cut oatmeal (not instant or Quaker) for breakfast 2 years ago, my BP has plummeted, and I saw a change within the first few months. I’ve never been a big cheese or meat eater and I exercise, as I have all of my life, and now my BP is normal. My sibling, mother, aunts, and cousins all take meds to lower their BP. The steel cut oatmeal did it for me. As I have been told by an MD, the cholesterol in the body is required to digest the steel cut oatmeal. And, I add almonds and fresh fruit, and it’s delicious!
42
@Sandie Sofia As crazy as it sounds, I add cooked beans to my oatmeal, with flax, frozen blueberries (Wyman), frozen banana, and homemade date syrup. I love the combination of hot oatmeal/beans with cold frozen fruit.
2
@Sandie Sofia - agree with your general premise - I don't find steel cut oats easily, but have eaten rolled oats for breakfast for most of the last 35 years - I reckon it's the best single change to my diet I've ever done.
2
@Nora
Well, I’ll have to give that a try!
I erred and what I meant to write is that after eating steel cut oatmeal, my cholesterol plummeted.
2
I have personal experience that cycling through Italy significantly lowers my blood pressure. I have, on multiple occasions, suggested that my doctor prescribe this in place of medication and ask insurance to pay. No luck so far but I keep trying
89
@Peter - What a delightful “prescription”! I’ll take mine in Ireland, thank you. No diss on Italia - love that place, too. Thanks for the chuckle.
7
I never even thought about my blood pressure most of my life, but suddenly it has become an obsession. Like many others, I'm active and slim, move and run and drag heavy briefcases of books and such up four flights of a NYC walk-up. One would look at me and think my blood pressure should be low, but I'm probably geared for high blood pressure from my mother's genes. I bought one of those OMRON machines and decided to religiously check my blood pressure twice a day - and yes, exercise helps. In January I made sure to do 30 -45 minutes of walking/running most days, as I was between teaching semesters. I saw my blood pressure lower to more normal readings, like 117/83. I always wonder why my diastolic is high and my systolic is not, but I guess being 68 makes the arteries get narrower and the resting number increase. The new bp numbers suggest that anyone who has a blood pressure reading over 80 for diastolic is a candidate for meds. I refuse to take them and will once again attempt to handle this raise in bp through less alcohol (I'm a wine drinker so it is painful....) less salt (I don't know if I'm salt sensitive but I'm watching it religiously) and more exercise. I'm already eating tons of vegetables and never meat or poultry. Bottom line - some people can handle it with exercise and others cannot. But I think many doctors love to give out pills rather than push for lifestyle changes.
15
It is extremely offensive to use a photo featuring a very lean runner who obviously has no weight issues. Moreover, such athletes often drop dead at a young age. You cannot advocate exercise without dealing with the increased appetite that results. And, it ignores the issues of people who cannot exercise vigorously, or at all. Then, for those who do vigorously exercise and are forced to suddenly stop, there is the issue of immediate weight gain that is unexpected. Further, there are different body types and issuing one prescription for all never fits.
8
@Grittenhouse I agree. And when I looked at that photo, I identified with the lady in the wheelchair!
On a good day I can walk a whole block, but today my back wore out after only 10 minutes of shopping. Exercise, shmecksersize. Articles like this just leave me feeling sad.
9
@Grittenhouse Good grief, what a ridiculous set of excuses for being sedentary. No, lean runners don't drop dead at a young age (!), and sustained, vigorous aerobic exercise actually reduces appetite in most people. There are, sadly, people who are too sick or disabled to exercise, but they are few. Most people can find something that works for them. People with joint problems can swim or bike, even if they have to use a stationary bike. Wheelchair users can workout on rowing machines; there's a paraplegic guy at my gym who does exactly that. Most people can take walks, and those who can't leave the house can buy a secondhand treadmill or even a simple bench step that they can use in front of a screen. Everyone I know who exercises has occasionally gotten sick or suffered an injury. When they do, their weight doesn't suddenly balloon. They eat a little less, wait to feel better, and get right back on track.
6
@MLChadwick: Everything is perceived as offensive these days, even "extremely."
I guess this is an over-reaction on the one thing that is extremely offensive in the USA: Trump.
4
This routine (maybe it's HIIT) helps my genetic high blood pressure considerably, and is super easy and not very time-consuming. Total 25 min per day (20 min in walking, 5 min stretching), average 5 days per week, on my fold-up treadmill in my laundry room. 5 min fast walking (4.2 for me, a long-ago competitive athlete used to interval training), 1 min serious stretching, 4 min fast walking, 1 min serious stretching, 4 min faster walking (4.4), 1 min serious stretching, another 4 min at 4.4, another min of stretching, and finally 4 min fast cooldown (4.0). More exercise would probably be better, but this versus nothing makes a huge difference, for me.
The other thing that made a difference (another poster mentioned this, too!) was my husband being diganosed with prediabetes. I cut out lots of sugar (found in...EVERYTHING) and bread, which melted off 20 pounds I hadn't been able to lose since pregnancy. I'm troubled at the lack of basic knowledge I had regarding sugar intake. Sugar is in everything. Even things ppl may think are healthy--flavored yogurts and yogurt drinks, for example. (Not a good history around the sugar trade, either -- learn this and it may be easier to forego it).
I have no idea scientifically what's going on, but anecdotally this works for my bp and isn't a huge exercise commitment. Works much better for me than long walks. It may be that different people respond differently to different kinds of exercise. Hope this helps someone out there...
20
So is happy day coming soon when my insurance will help pay for my bicycle, and my health club memberships? I’ve been waiting for so long!
41
@Jane
From an economic perspective, health insurers would profit by paying for exercise equipment and gym memberships IF there was an inexpensive way to verify that the insured person actually exercised to a beneficial extent. That technology is in development. Would you wear a fitbit that broadcast your heart rate and vitals to your insurer 24/7 if it saved you $50/month on your premium? Most people would not.
2
@ralph For years I had Oxford insurance (part of United Healthcare) through my employer.
They have a program where they give you $200 every six months if you join a gym and attend it 50 times or more during that period. I regularly got my $200, often attending far more than 50 times, and it was a profit for Oxford because I was sick a lot less than before I started exercising.
I'm now retired and no longer insured with Oxford, but I'm in the gym habit now and would never stop.
5
With my HMO supplemental Medicare health insurance plan, my gym fees are covered.
1
Since these studies are limited because they don’t specify how different people benefit from one regiment or another why not just do both and cover both bases?
1
I hate to say it, but for me the trick was serious weight loss. I started taking medication for bp in my early 40s, and continued with it for 20 years, with the dosage increasing over time. During that period I exercised five mornings a week, adding weights to my aerobic routine about 10 years in. Then, my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and needed to lose weight. We visited the dietitian together and bought into what she was saying. Eighteen months later, I had dropped 45 pounds, and good-bye bp meds. I still check my numbers weekly, and have increased my exercise slightly, but I'm amazed at my own results and so is my doctor.
33
Okay, in case anyone reads this, I have been taking bp meds, exercising for 40 years, genetically high cholesterol which marathon training didn’t touch, and family history of high blood pressure, hence the meds. When I quit drinking last summer-bye bye wine!- my bp went down and I cut the meds in half. Looking to quit them. Great for three months. Then I weaned myself off my replacement estrogen. Two months later BP backup, otherwise no changes. Research told me that women’s bp goes way up after menopause, hence increased risk of stroke, heart, etc. so two months ago I went back on estrogen, very low dose, guess what, bp way back down again! Even though I gained a couple of pounds. Yes, I know the risks, but after a hysterectomy 20 years ago, not much left to affect. And I get regular mammos. My doc was amazed.
20
But what do you EAT?
I am very slim and fit. I eat a healthy, low salt diet. I do not smoke. When people learn that I have high blood pressure, they can't believe it. However, I must take medicine to control my blood pressure, as does my mother, as did my grandmother. Sometimes it's inherited, folks.
123
@Downtown Mom
I did all you say you do, kept having to take meds, as did my father and grandmother.
After 16 years, I figured out how to adjust the diet and exercise. Went from being stuck at 160/100 for 3 years to average 115/75 or less with no meds.
I’m always astonished at these comments, just as I’m astonished at people who say, “I tried therapy for years but nothing worked till I took this pill.”
As a psychologist, I can tell you - it’s just a miracle that therapy works as well for even the most severe depression as medication alone (all the research shows this yet people still ignore it) - it’s a miracle because so much therapy is conducted at such a low level of competence.
Similarly, when people say “I tried diet and exercise and it didn’t work,” when you investigate what they actually do, someimtes it’s surprising their blood pressure isn’t even higher!
20
i have been on bp meds for many years and yes high bp is definitely an inherited condition but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that REGULAR exercise and losing even a few pounds helps enormously. the more aerobic the exercise, the lower the bp BUT it has to be regular. if you have to miss a couple of days, your bp will climb and then what? Do I take more medication? it is a constant battle for me. And so much of the medication makes me tired and then it is difficult to exercise.
10
@don salmon
"As a psychologist, I can tell you - it’s just a miracle that therapy works as well for even the most severe depression as medication alone (all the research shows this yet people still ignore it"
You're a psychologist? What therapy? There a many.
No. Plainly people do not ignore the research concerning talking and cognitive therapies— it just so happens that popping a few pills is an awful lot more affordable to many folk than personal psychotherapy.
5
I reduced my blood pressure in one week from 152 to 120, by eliminating regular coffee, then adding decaf—eliminating salt, then introducing foods with a little salt, smaller portions, lots of liquids.
15
But pills are so much easier, and insurance will pay for them.
13
@David If exercise and diet can address a medical issue, Americans have a moral obligation to follow this course. How can you justify the expense for medicine (and its inevitable side effects) because you can not adjust your diet and exercise?
1
@David
don't look at exercise as a chore, but rather as a joy. The exercise doesn't need to be particularly hard, walking works great, biking, bowling, dancing. I am sure there are many exercises people most with disabilities can do. But do find something that you feel is fun. And then, just do it.
Some years ago I had a colleague who was complaining she doesn't know how to do exercise. In our break we started walking. At first, she was done after less than one kilometer, but over time we got it up to 2 km. She is still walking, has lost quite some weight and tells me she feels so much better.
5
Not getting enough deep quality sleep contributes to high blood pressure.
38
News flash! Exercise is good for you!
36
The article’s first phrase is pretty malpractice. It implies bp meds “reduce visceral body fat”. To my knowledge pb meds have no effect on weight/fat.
10
Give the decline in smoking, the closing of filthy factories where men toiled 40 hours a week, and the incredible improvements in air quality since the late 1960's, today Big Pharma would be Little Pharma and healthcare spending would be cut in half - if we had the same obesity rate as the 1960's.
Sadly, most Americans today want to "eat everything in moderation," and sit on the couch, when simple diet switches and a 20-minute daily brisk walk greatly mitigates the need for over-priced insulin, statins, blood pressure meds, etc.
It is really a shame.
16
Duh!
3
Same as many other health issues. Problem is folks won’t do it. I’ve heard people say they would rather take statins than restrict their diet. You can’t help stupid.
9
@Terry When I told doctors I wanted to start with exercise for osteoporosis in one hip, they questioned my commitment instead of encouraging me. Doctors need to emphasize the importance of diet and exercise coupled, if needed, with meds. Part of why US health care costs are so high!
3
@CDN
I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at least 8 years ago, at age 60. My gynecologist at that time was pushing Prolia on me. I declined. I have since retired and moved away. I exercise 6 days a week at the gym and am strong as an ox. I avoid sports that could result in a fall. All is good.
10
Something to think about for all the people who say exercise and dietary changes didn't work for them:
@Ron A
Southern Mom:
FWIW
Age 52, BP 160/100. Working out 6 days a week, 3 days weight training, 3 days aerobics, lost 30 pounds in 3 months (leading to BMI of 24) kept it off the past 15 years.
no change in BP for 3 years. Got it down to about 135/85 (with one low dose med) by 2007.
Last year, got my "Silver Sneakers' (i.e., medicare supported free) gym membership.
Started taking 3 aerobics classes a week, with extra weight training afterward, and did HIIT aerobics 30-40' another 3 days a week.
I've also dramatically upped my intake of vegetables, particularly non starchy/green leafy veggies.
Results?
Blood pressure averaging 115/75 or less with no meds.
Before starting the Silver Sneakers routine, my doctor told me I had to take statins.
After one year of the new regime, he said my cholesterol had lowered so "dramatically" (his word) i no longer needed statins
Took me 16 years to figure out the routine, but now ideal BP with no meds, and no meds needed for cholesterol.
*****
Yes, I know, most folks aren't going to work this hard to get the right routine set.
All the more reason this needs to be a joint, world-wide effort, with local communities banding together.
The folks of Albert Lea, MN, decided they needed to do something about their health. They dedicated 5 years to transforming their town, lost tons of collective weight.
we can do it!
25
@don salmon
I'm very glad to hear this. You are very dedicated.
1
@Ron A
Fear of a heart attack or stroke is a great motivator!
1
We can do it as soon as we don’t have to work 70 hours a week at desk jobs and skip vacations because we’re afraid our jobs will disappear.
7
Drugs should be condemned and thought of as a last resort, keeping fit should be promoted not questioned.
18
Whatever algorithm and checkboxes insurers force doctors to use will determine whether medication or exercise is ultimately deemed to be the answer to lowering hypertension. It’s not about what works. It’s about what insurers and big pharma want to work.
7
It would be helpful if, when discussing the various treatments, potential side effects of those treatments would be included in all discussions. Exercise is known to improve mood and be as effective as many anti-depressants, improve balance, improve digestion, strength, and aerobic capacity. In other words, the side effects are all good. That cannot be said of any drug. When weighing whether to use drugs, especially in mild cases of hypertension(or any illness) why would any physician NOT prescribe exercise first?
The excuse “they won’t do it” Is a poor one. People are terrible about taking drugs properly, too- does that fact mean that no drugs should be prescribed? Dentists always tell their patients to floss and brush regularly, and while few patients actually do it as well or as regularly as they should, no one suggests that dentists should not bother to prescribe it.
We need a broad education plan that makes it clear that everyone needs exercise, life long. Every physician should be prescribing exercise to every patient, just as every dentist prescribes brushing and flossing to everyone.
9
Exercise is at least as good as medicine… that’s not saying much for either solution. Interesting that entirely left out is a third option that actually does make a huge difference: diet.
A high fat low carb diet has even been shown to reverse type 2 diabetes. Perhaps if the mainstream was more accepting of it, people would be more inclined to give it a try. But then nobody makes money from that like they do on drugs.
3
An estimated 160 million Americans are either obese or overweight. It's really sad that there is no mention of processed industrial food causing obesity, high blood pressure and a host of other health issues. Trying to build a solution around taking drugs is great for drug companies profits but terrible for americans. Our processed food diets are making corporations rich and killing us. Getting back to eating non processed foods with an emphasis on a plant based diet and exercise will cause most of these health issues to melt away. However, as long as Trump (Mr. Obesity) and the GOP in power none of this will be promoted.
18
@Son Of Liberty - The way you turned that into politics demonstrates that my fellow Lefties are lost in a koolaid soaked world of Trump Derangement.
5
@CK
What is the fact-based foundation on which you state your opinion?
Do you think that President Trump and the GOP are just as likely to use the government to promote health as the Democrats?
Do you remember the vitriol (and lies) aimed at Michelle Obama - unrelenting hatred - for daring to suggest that eating better food and exercising more might be a good thing (“nanny state” for example - tell me the Democratic equivalent of that in the field of health care - and no, no identity politics or PC irrelevances, which is why I specifically said “In the field of health care.”
Please enlighten me. To the best of my knowledge, regarding facts, there is a radical difference between the two groups (I will acknowledge many of the Democrats won’t do it because of their own ties to the plutocracy; my only point is that overall, you’re going to find little if any support from the GOP; lots of push back; and overall, more support from the Democxrats)
If you have any facts contrary to this, and can avoid useless polarizing name calling, please let us know.
3
I’m a regular swimmer: forty laps in a 25 m pool every other day. Before I used to swim eighty laps but I was then a less regular gym goer.
This article harps on the benefits of regular exercise to our health, but doesn’t comment the psychological ones one achieves by regularly working out.
I know when I’m stroking in the swimming pool that I physically benefit, but this is the less important fact I have into account.
What I’m looking for is the joy of swimming per se, the pleasure of the final shower and the state of, shall I say it, wellness and elation that follows.
I started going to the gym twenty years ago and I’ve still not tired of it, just the contrary.
23
@Joan Enric Torrent, Amen to that! I started swimming 41 years ago and still manage to swim 2000 yards (or meters, depending on the pool) on most days.
The second lesson I learned from swimming is that it takes NO time at all: Every minute I spend on swimming, including travel time and locker-room time, is more that returned in the form of better energy, awareness, and sense-of-well-bieng during the rest of the day. Not to mention a great night's sleep.
The first lesson I learned from swimming? You've already covered that in your comment -- it's priceless. Keep swimming.
5
@RR
Well,15 minutes to get to the gym/pool. Then 5 plus minutes to change and get to the pool, then a 20 minute swim, then 20 minutes to shower, change and blow dry very thick hair, then 15 minutes home is 75 minutes minimum - that does NOT equal "no" time. Benefits, yes, but time, for sure.
1
"aerobic exercise trimmed visceral fat more effectively than strength training. . . ." Where does high-intensity interval training fall on that spectrum? I doubt anyone knows, and yet, NYT Health section had several articles the past year encouraging HIIT. Although I do some HIIT myself, I'm skeptical whether HIIT is as good for overall health as traditional aerobics, regardless of what a time saver it might be for competitive athletes. As the article concludes, "clinical exercise science could stand to raise its game and develop greater rigor in testing exercise as medicine." That's certainly true for HIIT.
3
Exercise does precisely nothing to reduce fat, in the long run. Of the two hundred million or so fat people in the US, there are precisely zero who have not repeatedly lost weight by assorted variations on diet and exercise. Absolutely every variation works great, for a little while. But the weight always comes back, and brings some extra along with it.
Drugs? I don't know. Drugs might help. They keep coming out with new ones.
4
@dsws
It’s great that you have achieved such precision, knowing that out of two hundred million people precisely zero have reduced fat in the long term with exercise. No need to do any further studies with the limited samples mere scientists have to use when you know everything about everyone.
6
@dsws
Can you cite any research to back up your claim?
To the best of my knowledge the rough number generally accepted by researchers worldwide is this: about 20% of weight loss can be attributed to appropriate (very important adjective) exercise.
I’m in the 15% of the population that used diet + exercise to lose 15% of my body weight, keeping it off now for 16 years.
I had been trying to lose an additional 5-10 pounds all those years. No diet helped. I upped my exercise a year ago (without any significant diet modications) and lost an additional 8 pounds - fully in line wtih the research.
So, please, if you know of any valid scientific resesarch supporting your thesis, please let us know.
6
Well good morning, sunshine! Re the fruitless efforts of millions, check out the National Weight Control Registry run by Brown University. Many many folks who have successfully lost thirty pounds or more and kept it off for years with diet and exercise. When I turned 50 I went low carbs and a stationary recumbent bike and lost 65 pounds and still weigh the same at 65. My BMI is 22. And I smoke, drink, cuss and gamble. Once you retire, it’s like jumping off a 100 story building. You know how it’s going to end. I may be at floor 58, but so far, so good.
7
I'm 83 yrs old and go to the gym every day for about 30 to 45 min of cardio and weight training. My hypertension is currently controlled with a baby dose of medicine, which I believe is due to the exercise regimen
16
@jo miller good for you. Exercise and a better diet helped bring my blood pressure down far enough that i no longer need blood pressure medication.
4
Jo, I am 82 years old, do not go to the gym, and do not take any meds. My BP was just 129/72.
4
HUGE coincidence to read this article this morning, a few minutes after my medical consultation which the physician concluded I am a candidate to be a high blood pressure patient, after reviewing several medical exams. His proposal to my case is to take regular medical examination (30, 90, 180 days) and now committed myself to change my lifestyle (more aerobic workouts, less salt, less alcohol, etc) and hopefully I will not have to take drugs to control my blood pressure. Great article!
7
@Douglas Roger
There's also mores to go with the lesses...
More potassium.
More magnesium.
Heart monitors allow you to measure your workouts. They work just as well for health goals as they do for competitive goals.
3
I have read that one of the biggest problems physicians have in treating patients with high blood pressure is getting them to stick to their medication.
If taking a daily pill poses a problem to patients, one can only imagine what will happen when physicians "prescribe" a half-hour or more of exercise to sedentary patients. Let's be realistic.
33
Imagine that, not being dependent on a drug solution. Nutrition as medicine is the surest way to higher health...
8
Just a side thought for the senior men reading this. Exercise is great, may not be enough by itself if your HBP is significant, but if you do need drugs, know some of them can exacerbate ED while others do not, and some of the latter may even have a positive impact. Not a doc myself, but my understanding is the older beta blockers and diuretics tend to worsen ED while ARBs in particular seem to be okay. And, of course, PDE5 inhibitors, tadalafil in particular, may have a modest positive impact on HBP as well. Again, just a layman talking, but if any docs are reading this, maybe you could comment. ED is a big deal for us older guys, and HBP is a factor.
4
“Exercise can lower blood pressure and reduce visceral body fat at least as effectively as many prescription drugs.” Two questions: is the reverse true, ie, can many prescription drugs lower BP and reduce body fat as effectively as exercise? And if so, where can I get some of that?
5
@AJ Nieto,
Two answers: "No" and "You can't."
What's missing from your thinking is the issue of "side effects." The side effects of most prescription drugs diminish quality of life overall; the side effects of regular exercise are Elysian.
2
Due to a car accident, I have a back injury and must exercise a minimum of 4x per week. I'm in extraordinary physical condition for my age and disability. I do have HBP, but have it mostly under control.
Sometimes, genetics play a large role in what illnesses befall you in life. Understanding this and being willing to make the decisions necessary to insure your overall good health is instrumental in both happiness and longevity.
Above all else, listen to your body, seek a doctor's advice when necessary, and get off the darn couch.
6
Whenever I read comments from self-satisfied individuals bragging about what great shape they're in, I'm reminded of Jim Fixx, the fitness guru who dropped dead of a heart attack at 52, while jogging no less. The point is there is no guarantee of a long, healthy life even for those with "perfect" medical stats (and vice versa).
11
And whenever anyone says "but what about Jim Fixx's death at 52?" I pop up to point out that the men in Fixx's family tended to drop dead in their early 40s, so he outlived them by a decade. Also as an early true believer in the health benefits if running he thought that it would counteract the ill effects of his terrible diet. He was wrong.
17
@William Wroblicka My father was a lifelong athelete, recruited to esteemed college for 4 sports - and he had a massive coronary event while jogging at age 50 that killed him. His father died of a heart attack at 55. His mother, a series of strokes mid-sixties. Genetics. The younger generations in our family watch what we eat, do min 5 hours cardio exercise a week - and when the time finally comes that the doctors says "take the medicine", we do it, whether for cholesterol or HBP - and it works. Thankfully, greatfully, those in my family's middle generations are living into their 70s and 80s.
53
@Margaret. Unless you performed an autopsy on Mr. Fixx, you have no idea whether his "terrible diet" contributed to his demise.
6
Often, disease limits mobility, causing weight gain. Then, with the disease, exercise can often be impossible due to pain or other impacts the disease has on the patient.
This is a topic that is little discussed. We need more exercise programs that are designed for a variety of disease. Not healthy 15-70 year olds but unhealthy 15-80+ year olds.
For example, any disease that impacts the vestibular system, like migraine, Meniere's, *old age*, and other inner ear diseases and disorders, can really limit exercise. It is amazing how much your head, and therefore balance system, moves doing ANYTHING. Even a stationary bike!
If sick people had better exercise options based on their *limitations*, that might improve their health which in turn could mean they could slowly do other types of exercise and continue to regain health.
68
I continue to be surprised that newspapers like the nytimes publish articles that tout exercise as a route to health -- but rarely to never do they mention diet.
Until I realized that their advertisers include both the food industry and the fitness industry. Nobody makes much money off healthier eating habits. Buying whole foods and cooking at home.
And yet, diet can have a greater positive (and negative) impact on health than can exercise. A plant based whole foods diet can show benefits within days, weeks, and months.
Yes, exercise is important, but diet is even more so. The two together are best. (along with not smoking or drinking alcohol)
6
I started exercising after being diagnosed with HBP three decades ago. Did nothing for my blood pressure, but it's been great for my health, and I've kept it up religiously all these years - along with my blood pressure meds.
55
Too bad the article didn't provide the key statistics - percentage of the overweight and the obese with high blood pressure, and percentage of those with the correct weight with high blood pressure. Then there is the third group - those who are the correct weight and who exercise.
I think the differences would be shocking.
10
That prescription would have to come with another for the time to do the exercise. There is so much we have wrong about our priorities.
1
At the age of 74 and an exerciser since college, I have maintained a BMI of 23 +-.1 over those years. I don't run anymore, but walk 15 miles/week in my hilly neighborhood and I do floor exercises(pushups, planks and abdominals) as well as weights about 3 times per week.
I have never taken blood pressure meds, nor have diabetes or heart trouble. I know that I am lucky to have the overall health to keep at it, but perhaps that overall health could be at least partially due to my lifelong regimen.
Bottom line: keep on keeping on. In the time it took to read this article a person could do at least 20 pushups and a 1 minute plank
18
@Bill I have been diagnosed with a hip problem. No walking very far and now go to water aerobics. Had extensive shoulder surgery. No more yoga or planks or any of that. Maybe for good. Not everyone is in great shape because of illness.
3
@Moira Rogow
Moira, I am answering your reply to let you know that I have had hip problems(bursitis) and have rotator cuff surgery on both sides along with other injuries requiring surgery. The point is, one does not stop doing what they can do.
1
I had a wrestling coach who would, during matches, exhort his athletes to "move!" I can still see and hear him yelling "move!"
In the absence of any advice on particular moves to make, it was kind of comical. Yes coach, when on the mat, one must "move!" No doubt about it coach, one must "move!"
In case you are wondering, Coach was the strong and mostly silent type of guy. He was a presence. He had our respect.
He played football and wrestled in the Big Ten Conference in the late 1930s. He was a block of granite.
When applied to life off the mat, "move!," is rather elegant and sage advice. Maybe Coach was a zen master!
Move, move, and move some more. Any kind of movement. Anywhere and anytime.
"Move!"
27
I have high blood pressure and I was diagnosed with a glandular problem which helps to keep my pressure elevated despite regular medication. So my fight is on two fronts. Fortunately I have an excellent team of doctors who have helped me greatly by combining medicine, exercise and diet to control my blood pressure and weight. But the most significant comment my general practitioner made to me when we began my treatment was to think of exercise and food as my medicine to help control my blood pressure and weight. Previously, I had taken food and exercise for granted, never realizing their importance to my health. This comment was a life changer for me as now my pressure is stable and my weight has dropped by about 30 significant pounds.
34
Or, said another way: "Many common prescription drugs can lower blood pressure and reduce visceral body fat nearly as effectively as exercise, two new reviews report."
Time to have a chat with my doctor.
8
@Nathan Hale
No. Just a very badly written article. No pb meds reduce visceral fat.
The first paragraph should have been "In additional to reducing visceral body fat, exercise can lower blood pressure as effectively as many common prescription drugs, according to two important new reviews of relevant research about the effects of exercise on maladies."
8
First let me say I rail against our current medical system in this country as de facto criminal as opposed to our peer countries but every now and then they do something right.
Yes, exercise, eat right, don't smoke etc. but many times it is not enough to control high blood pressure.
I take low doses of three pills to control it. They work and despite some side effects I rather have them then to end up in a hospital every few months with spiked high BP that almost happened before I took the drugs.
I often praise the NY Times for calling out our criminal health care system but here I think the doctors and pills are right.
15
Why not do both as I do? Exercise for the 65 year old body would be a full time job (and I work for a living), and still I could get dangerous spikes in blood pressure. Didn't you just run an article on strokes?
9
If you want those knees when you're in your 40's, don't run on cement!
12
Do you mean there are physicians who don't talk to their patients about the health benefits of exercise? Shame on them.
20
Even if you're already the bony type, get tested regularly. I'm a skinny, active older person who recently started meds to get my BP down. It's frustrating when you try to stay healthy but your genes get in the way.
24
How much did blood pressure and visceral fat drop?
6
While exercise might work for many people, it does not work for everyone. I am 43, a vegetarian for 25 years, never overweight, workout 3x a week, including jogging about 10 miles total, walk my kids to school every day, always take the stairs, etc. I was diagnosed with stage 2 hypertension a year ago and I am still struggling to find the right drug combination to get it down after giving up all caffeine and alcohol as a last resort and seeing no difference. My cardiologist, who pulls no punches, has finally advised me to give up and accept more drugs if I want to have a long life. He has been in the field for 50+ years and says for some people lifestyle changes just don't work. I now find articles like this judgy and condescending, and I am SO grateful for pharmaceutical companies who make these truly life changing drugs (never thought I'd say that until a year ago). Don't assume everyone with HBP is lazy and apathetic.
149
@southern mom
Sorry but I don’t find this article judgmental in any way, it is just some good advice. Yes some people must use drugs despite doing all the right things, but that doesn’t mean that the information in this article is demeaning.
As for drug companies they are just out for the biggest buck they can get, that not news just fact. I have gotten FOUR recall notices on Valsartan. I have been taking a tainted drug and only I am paying the price for it!
Doctors like the rest of us are wrong a good percentage of the time. I am grateful for the help they give and the lives they make better. But at the end of the day I am always going to be the final arbiter of my health.
20
@southern mom Don't give up on exercise and maintaining a healthy diet. It's possible that you may need a more intense workout regimen (check out HIIT workouts) or more calorie restriction to help achieve your goals.
5
If you eat eggs, cheese, milk, and ice cream as part of your diet and processed foods with their excess salt, you might reduce the amount. Sugary drinks, fruit juices, and added sugar affect heart health. Something closer to the Pritikin diet of today would help. A friend who died at age 70 of congestive heart failure was congratulated by his cardiologist for being vegetarian for many decades. He was obese, however, and consumed a lot of sugar and animal products (cholesterol). Fried vegetables should be restricted. Fries with processed veggie burger on white flour bun with soft drink is not a healthy meal.
8
Good article and believable stats. With that said, my beef with acceptable blood pressure numbers is, the medical profession keeps changing them and downward. Point being in my case, once I reached prior acceptable readings with both meds and exercise, no matter how much I add to my exercise regime, or how much weight I can shed, the new numbers still cannot be reached. What this therefore means is that, if Physicians adopt the recent revised guidelines, stronger BP pills will be prescribed, or pills prescribes to folks who never used to take any meds. A cocktail of BP meds often leads to falls in older people. Lastly Doctors don't spend much time with non drug information they are taught to prescribe drugs.
48
@Dan Green exactly. I am in the same boat. Age 61, slender (5'10" 135 lbs and within 3 pounds of military entrance physical 42 years ago), good diet, exercise about 2 hours throughout the day at the gym and walking hills at home. Blood pressure creeping up, cholesterol number edging north too. I reviewed my military record (which contains 25 years of military physicals). At age 18 my BP was 130/80, and it now runs anywhere from 126-145 (top number varies widely), and anywhere from 70-85 on the bottom (varies widely too). My Mom and Dad both had high BP, and neither were obese and was they both were physically active. I realize that the new guidelines are going to place me out of normal limits. There is no excess weight to shed, and I am doing the exercise. Sure, the diet could be tweaked more (there is always room for improvement), but how much is that going to budge these numbers?
6
Once you establish a practical exercise regime, the benefits will keep you coming back. I am 71 and finally developing a chest and my abdominal muscles (six pack).
It is important to find some aerobic activity you enjoy...I like walking fast...really fast.. It is fun to feel the wind in my hair when I break into a run. It was years since I had that feeling. In the warmer weather, it is perfect to exercise outside...Even golf counts, if you walk the course...
Exercising makes me feel young... and I am always in a great mood when I am finished with my daily routine.
Find a system that works for you. I do pushups (real ones) pull ups and lots and lots of abdominal work at home. (PerfectOnline.com has wonderful home equipment.)
At the gym, I do the strength training and heavy lifting. It really does not take much time from your day...but not a day goes by that I don't question my own resolve to do it. After you begin to see results, it is much, much easier to make the commitment...and much easier to decide on beneficial food choices...
A former oenophile, I do not miss it at all..(Well, almost not at all..ha ha)
You must make time to care for your body, as much as you make for your financial and spiritual well being.
Besides, I am a much nicer person to my family and friends after a workout!
123
@Paul all true!
at 50 I had 5 diseases, 4 doctors, 6 medications and carried an extra 100 lbs of fat on my body and saw many doctors who gave me lots of specific medical advice and non-specific general food/exercise advice.
Both turned out to be all wrong and I fired them all. I began eliminating meats/fish/sugars/processed foods and exercising daily. Now I eat only plants and exercise at least, often more if/when I have time, for 20 min/day at 80% of my max heart rate.
The results?
Now, at 63 my bp is now 116/58, 41 resting pulse, 41 VO2 Max, 155lbs and no drugs/disease.
Yes, it's that simple but few are willing to do it.
11
@Paul Enjoyed your comments very much. As I turned 40 I had already lost my Father and Brother to heart conditions I became determined to do what I could to fight my own genetic predisposition. I cut out dairy and a high fatty foods, cut back on the martinis and began a minimum 3 day a week exercise program. In my later 50's I had an angiogram for some irregularities found in tests and was told that my heart had built it's own collateral blood vessels to bypass a blockage in the heart. I had not taken any heart or BP drugs at that time. I do think the body will help us as we age if we respect its needs.
8
@Paul I love that you admit to questioning your resolve every day - but you do it anyway! We don't have to want to do it, but if we can remember how good it makes us feel, we will strap on the sneakers and get moving.
7
Sure, Docs should prescribe Vitamin Xercise, but when will public policy embrace the science and focus on building the infrastructure of health we need? That means attractive stairways, walkways, bikeways and safe connections to mass transit, parks, commercial hubs, and schools. We spend more on watering golf courses than we do on healthy mobility Rx. That is changing, too slowly. Let’s pick up the pace.
104
@JEH, we need shorter workdays, as well.
22
@JEH Indeed. My doctor recently prescribed walking as part of my recovery from a work-related injury, but where? The sidewalks (I am lucky to have) near my house are coated almost uniformly with a half-inch of ice. The sad truth is that I have to drive to the mall to walk in winter.
9
@Flora Flora, I am going to pass on the secret to walking in winter: Yak Trax. They are rubber webs studded with cleats. You just pull them over your shoes, and you will find yourself fearless on the ice. There are several brands with varying levels of traction, but they are life changing footwear.
2
Here is my own, very unscientific study on reducing body fat and blood pressure. I suffered a heart attack three years. My nurse practitioner set me up with a nutritionist, cardiologist, and diabetes manager. They laid the law down, quit smoking, eat healthier, and exercise. The team provided fantastic support without moralizing and fault finding. I found quitting smoking to be easy. It took a couple months to find a diet that I liked but I found it. I bought a treadmill after finding out that friendly Texas drivers liked to use me for litter target practice. With some great walking videos and music, I spend about an hour a day, two 30 minute sessions, on my treadmill at over 3MPH five to six days week and pushups are a part of my exercise routine. Over three years I've lost close to 50 pounds and my target is to lose another 20. Blood pressure way down as is my A1C.
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@Chuckw Nothing would ruin a walk more than people throwing their trash at you ;-p Around here if you aren't dressed in the latest workout clothes and already look fit then it's very uncomfortable to get out and exercise, in that way exercise is already monetized as another poster had mentioned. I'm going to buy a treadmill if I can find a good one that doesn't take up the whole room...
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@Chuckw Congratulations! Sounds like you, with your support, did a terrific job of improving your health.
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@Missy There are some great treadmills out there that don’t take up a lot of room, “Tall Sky” has great walking videos. Music from the 50s,60s, and 70s provide great sounds.
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A case can also be made for using dietary changes to reduce blood pressure, backed up by a body of research, but this health section seems more attuned to the benefits of exercise rather than those of dietary changes.
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@William
It's not either or. Nor does the article suggest that. This particular article is about exercise vs meds. Others have been about diet.
Smart people with hypertension take their meds, exercise, and have healthy low salt diets.
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@William
I don't agree, and even if it were, the section's title is "PHYS ED".
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Until corporations successfully monetize climbing stairs, jogging in parks, and walking your kids home from school, drug 'research' will promote products, not exercise.
If your physician reaches for his prescription pad rather than lecture you on your spare tire, she is culpable too.
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@John- You are half right. Yes the lecture but if it doesn't work then also the pill. Read my post:
First let me say I rail against our current medical system in this country as de facto criminal as opposed to our peer countries but every now and then they do something right.
Yes, exercise, eat right, don't smoke etc. but many times it is not enough to control high blood pressure.
I take low doses of three pills to control it. They work and despite some side effects I rather have them then to end up in a hospital every few months with spiked high BP that almost happened before I took the drugs.
I often praise the NY Times for calling out our criminal health care system but here I think the doctors and pills are right.
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@john Seems to me that corporations do monetize exercise. How? By selling sneakers, clothing and miscellaneous gear that folks can purchase. I'm not saying most of it is necessary but I do know that tons of it is sold.
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@A-Agreed A, anything can be abused including motherhood, apple pie, exercise etc. and all have been abused by somebody or some corporation.
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