Run Away from High Blood Pressure

By Christopher Prawdzik

　　The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health moved about 45 million Americans closer to high blood pressure last month.

　　The institute re-evaluated systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers and moved some “normal” blood pressure totals into a “prehypertension” category.

　　As I've stated many times – and likely will again – I have no formal medical training.

　　Everyone should have his blood pressure checked regularly and follow a doctor's advice.

　　If your pressure is high, don't panic. Hit the road and reduce those numbers.

　　Typically, high blood pressure is any systolic reading above 139 (top number) or any diastolic reading above 89 (bottom number). Prehypertension, however, is a blood pressure of at least 119 over 79, but below the levels listed above.

　　If you've worried about your blood pressure, running can help in many ways, but I believe two specific areas are paramount.

　　The first is combating stress.

　　Most in military know stress, from life-threatening duty to mobilization and family responsibilities.

　　An elevated stress level constricts blood vessels, upsets blood flow and requires the heart to work overtime.

　　However, a regular running regimen forces the mind to focus on endurance, breathing and the exercise itself. Thoughts and worries that cause stress and constrict blood vessels fall away. Blood flow improves, and the heart's efficiency increases. Running also increases the amount of oxygen in the blood.

　　The National Runner's Health Study, a Berkeley, Calif., research lab, examined about 8,000 male runners and about 2,000 female runners and found that blood pressure in faster runners is lower than that in slower runners.

　　In an analysis of the study by Jeffery Kahn at the Berkeley lab, faster male runners were 13 times more likely to lower systolic pressure and nearly three times more likely to lower diastolic pressure.

　　Faster women showed a 5.7 times greater chance of dropping systolic pressure.

　　Running helps fight high blood pressure by promoting deep breathing during the workout, which helps reduce overall blood pressure.

　　The process is simple. The deeper each breath, the more oxygen enters the blood stream – again moving more oxygen with each heartbeat and relieving the strain on the heart.

　　With the stress-relieving effect and deep breathing, a frequent-running regimen should keep rising blood pressure at bay and lower pressure over time.

　　At the same time – and as correct as the heart-institute study might be – getting riled by numbers that yesterday were “normal” and today are considered prehypertensive is counterproductive.

　　I'm now in the prehypertension category, and I've been so for 20 years, so I'm going to keep running and not worry about it.

　　My first trip to the gym after the war started was an attempt to reduce the stress that was building and overwhelming me through the week.

　　So, being a big fan of spinning – indoor biking – I decided to take a seat in the class at my gym.

　　Five minutes into the warm-up, I felt the tension in my head slip away. Surrounded by fellow spin junkies, the talk was lively.