Get moving-tips for preventing and treating high blood pressure

 Hypertension is often "asymptomatic", or the symptoms are mild and often ignored. Once there are symptoms, it may be life-threatening, which is why high blood pressure is clinically called the "silent killer".

In the "Hypertensive Exercise Therapy" lecture held at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Professor Liang Qi from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine pointed out that high blood pressure is harmful to human health, but it is preventable and controllable. One of the secrets is ——Move up.

The harm of high blood pressure is systemic

Hypertension may be asymptomatic or mild for a long time, but the harm it brings is far beyond our imagination. The harm caused by hypertension is mainly manifested in the following five aspects:

1. Cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction are currently the most important causes of disability, and severe cases can lead to death;

2. Retinal arteriosclerosis, namely blindness;

3. Heart damage, including coronary atherosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease, patients with angina, myocardial infarction and heart failure;

4. Kidney damage can lead to renal insufficiency and even uremia;

5. Peripheral arteriosclerosis can cause claudication.

Exercise is a good medicine to prevent high blood pressure

Everyone wants to prevent and control the dangers of hypertension, but is there any good way besides taking antihypertensive drugs? In this regard, Professor Liang Qi said that exercise is a blind "drug" for the prevention and control of high blood pressure, and no medicine like exercise can play a full therapeutic role.

The benefits of exercise can be summarized in the following 7 points: 1) Improve high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia; 2) Reduce obesity and overweight; 3) Reduce high uric acid; 4) Improve low physical activity; 5) Improve Sleep disorders; 6) Better functional health; 7) Relief of depression, etc.

Although exercise has all-round advantages, it is not a panacea. If you want to achieve the goal of not taking medicine through exercise, it must be decided according to the specific situation of the patient. "When the blood pressure is too high, it is still necessary to rely on drugs to control. When the blood pressure is stable and the disease is mild, exercise can be used to replace some of the benefits of the drug. For some obese patients with high blood pressure, the blood pressure may return to normal after losing weight through exercise. No need to take drugs." Professor Liang Qi said.

According to your own situation, recommend these exercises

There are many ways to exercise, but not every one is suitable for patients with high blood pressure. Before the patient starts exercise, it is best to choose the exercise method according to their own situation and carry out exercise therapy step by step. In addition to reducing the risk of high blood pressure, the most important thing is to promote the overall health of patients. This is what Professor Liang Qi most hopes to see. Therefore, she recommends the following 8 exercises:

1. Walk. Walking is the best and easiest way to exercise, but there are a few things to pay attention to when walking: 1) Insist on walking at least half an hour every day; 2) Calculate the pace, try to walk at least 110 meters per minute for men and 90 meters per minute for women; 3 ) Sweat a little, a little tired, it is better to be able to speak whole sentences.

2. Tai Chi. Tai Chi can increase the strength of the lower limbs and effectively reduce the risk of falling for the elderly. It is an ideal way of exercise. But the needs vary from person to person. Tai Chi is not recommended for patients with knee pain.

3. Square dance. At present, square dance is becoming more and more popular and there are more and more types. Patients can choose the intensity that suits them to exercise. Even for older patients, as long as they ensure half an hour to an hour of low-to-moderate-intensity exercise, the goal of exercise can be achieved.

4. Bicycles. Household bicycles can be used as a supplement to not being able to exercise outdoors. Those with Parkinson's, osteoporosis, old age and unable to go out can choose to ride a bicycle at home.

5. Resistance exercise. This is an indispensable exercise for muscle training. On the spot, Professor Liang Qi personally demonstrated a number of simple exercises such as squatting against the wall, curling abdomen on a chair, suspending the legs and propping up, standing and kicking backwards. The patient is at home anytime, anywhere It can be done.

6. Drafting training. Mainly exercise the flexibility of the body, such as pushing the wall, stretching the thigh in the supine position, etc., which can make the muscles in a wake-up state.

7. Balance training. For example, standing on one leg, eyeballs chasing fingers, heels and toes, legs raised in place, balance beams, etc.

8. Other training methods. For example, walking across obstacles, walking combined with balance training, etc.

Finally, Professor Liang Qi reminded hypertensive patients to carry out moderate to high-intensity exercise, which requires professional doctors to evaluate to avoid cardiovascular risks caused by exercise. In addition, exercise should be regarded as a natural thing like eating and sleeping. Doing exercise is not to be stronger than others, let alone exercise for the sake of exercise, but to reduce the risk of disease and achieve a state of physical and mental health. As the saying goes, "small labors strengthen the body", even if you usually reduce sedentary, do more housework, and walk more, you can achieve the effect of promoting health.