High BP during exercise indicates unhealthy hearts

A READING of blood pressure (BP) taken during exercise is a more accurate test for early heart disease than a reading taken at rest. This is according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) in Minneapolis.

The study, conducted by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, showed that a high pulse pressure defined as the difference between systolic blood pressure (the upper number) and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) during exercise was associated with a dysfunction of the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels.

These cells control the ability of the blood vessels to dilate, or expand, which allows more blood to flow during periods of stress.

Increased pulse pressure is also an indicator of blood-vessel stiffening, which may be a marker of early heart disease. says the report.

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that pulse pressure is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease in the elderly. `

`Most clinicians focus on the patient's blood pressure during rest, but according to the recent study it has been shown that a reading of exaggerated blood pressure during exercise is a more sensitive marker for resistance to blood flow through the arteries.

This is a possible sign of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries),''says Kerry J. Stewart, Ed.D., lead author of the study and director of cardiac rehabilitation and clinical exercise physiology at Hopkins.

``The higher the pulse pressure in response to exercise, the more likely the patient is to have blood vessels that did not expand as expected.'

'If cells lining the blood vessels are unable to respond well to the increase in blood flow associated with stress and exercise, the heart must work harder and can become enlarged, Stewart says.

An enlarged heart heightens a person's risk of heart attack, stroke or heart failure according to the report.

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