Good swimming for people with high blood pressure

Participating in swimming can help older people maintain stable blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, a study in the journal Cardiology , USA.

The average blood pressure reading below 120 / 80mmHg is said to be normal, above 120 / 80mmHg is high blood pressure and from 140/90 or more is high blood pressure.

"We do not have much research about the health benefits that swimming brings. And many people have said that sport is more suitable for the elderly is walking or cycling," said Hirofumi Tanaka, a home Research at the University of Texas at Austin said.

Swimming helps improve blood vessel function and control blood pressure of the elderly.

Mr. Tanaka said swimming is the second most popular and popular sport after walking. We easily participate in the exercise without cost. This sport is useful for exchanging knee and ankle joints and improving blood vessel function and controlling blood pressure of the elderly.

One study included 43 people at an average age of 60, with high blood pressure or pre-hypertension but remained healthy. Experts randomly assign objects into two groups. One group swim 3-4 sessions (45 minutes / 1 session) in a week, the other group takes part in relaxing exercise.

After 12 weeks of follow-up, experts found that swimmers reduced systolic blood pressure from 131mmHg to 122mmHg. In contrast, those in the group practicing relaxation movements did not reduce this index. They obtained similar results when monitoring blood pressure during the day. People in the swimming group with average systolic blood pressure from 128mmHg when they started the study dropped to 119mmHg.

Tanaka and his team conducted an ultrasound test, which found that the blood vessels of the subject in the swimming pool expand the blood quickly. However, this improvement did not happen to the other group.

"Although it has been suggested that swimming is a sport that can pose a health risk, the new study emphasizes that it is a safe sport that helps high blood pressure patients maintain stable blood pressure. and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, " Mr. Tanaka concluded.

Experts also recommend that older people combine regular exercise with a healthy diet to be good for heart health.