The effect of exercise on prevention and control of hypertension - Essay Example

The main purpose of the research is to present that high blood pressure or in other words hypertension is one of the leading health problems in many countries affecting nearly 50 million people. In the United States, hypertension is a major health concern. Hypertension is also the reason for a majority of outpatient visits in hospitals as in many cases control of the condition is not achieved. Over the years research has shown that high blood pressure is not caused by a single factor but by a number of factors combined which includes the genetic make-up of the individual as well as surrounding environmental factors and the effect of each factor varies from one individual to another.

Though the efficacy of pharmacological tablets has been well established for the control of blood pressure in hypertensive individuals, these medications are not always effective on every individual. Additionally, they are expensive and can also give rise to adverse reactions that may reduce the quality of life. Thus maintaining one’s blood pressure is quite a task and it usually requires suitable lifestyle changes in order to ensure lifelong control. As people being to make these changes they usually expect the alterations to work for them but nothing is ever guaranteed.

However, there is substantial evidence that routine exercises in addition to lifestyle modifications are an effective strategy to control blood pressure in several individuals. The efficacy of physical activity and aerobic exercises in reducing blood pressure has been widely explored in scientific research and is the subject of numerous reviews. Research studies have shown that a reduction of 3.5 and 2.0 mmHg in the Systolic and Diastolic blood pressure is found to occur when routine exercises are followed.

Factors that cause hypertension It has been proven that hypertension is the result of a combination of several causes that include psychological factors, psychosocial factors, sociological factors, surrounding environment and the nature of the individual which includes personality, and behavior. Several studies such as cross-cultural studies, epidemiologic, observational, animal model and those that involve the human population have supported this theory. Among the various factors psycho-social conditions surrounding an individual play a vital role in determining the onset of hypertension.

Though a thorough review of all psychological, and socio-cultural factors assumed to cause hypertension cannot be included in this paper, some of these factors will be explored briefly. Physiology factors: Hypertension predisposes an individual to cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death worldwide and other diseases that includes kidney disorders, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. The clinical definition of hypertension is an SBP value of > 140 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and a DBP value > 90 mm Hg.

However, the risk factors that occur due to an increase in blood pressure manifest even when the blood pressure is 115/75 (SBP/DBP) and for every 20/10 increase the risk factors begin to double (Pescatello et al. 2004a). In order to identify individuals who are predisposed to developing hypertension a new classification termed as “prehypertension” that refers to SBP values between 120–139 and DBP values 80–89) has been introduced. Hypertension is broadly classified under two categories: essential and secondary.

Essential hypertension has been found to occur in individuals who have a genetic predisposition to the condition, though the exact cause is still not known. On the contrary secondary hypertension occurs in individuals as a result of a disease process such as renal artery stenosis, coarctation of the aorta, adreno-cortical or non-malignant tumors and hypokalemia. Psychological factors: Several researchers have investigated the effect of psychological factors leading to hypertension and whether such individuals have a unique psychological profile and the interference of the