A study by the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has characterised the overweight or obese hypertensive population.
A study by the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has characterised the overweight or obese hypertensive population.
For the last seven years, researchers in the UPV/EHU's Department of Physical and Sports Education have been studying the hypertensive population with excess weight/obesity and sedentary habits. In a recent publication, this group has determined the state of health of this population through various key physical, physiological, clinical and nutritional markers and has separated them by sex and physical condition.
Obesity and high blood pressure frequently coexist in the same individual and are recognised as the main cardiovascular risk factor. The prevalence of hypertension, defined as systolic arterial pressure of ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic arterial pressure of ≥90 mmHg and/or the prescribing of antihypertensive pharmacological therapy, is to be found in 30-45% of the general population. What is more, it is estimated right now that 69% of the population are overweight or obese and that 35% are obese individuals. That is why when controlling and preventing hypertension as well as cardiovascular disease, it is necessary to quantify cardiovascular risk since, even though a very small fraction of the hypertensive population has only high blood pressure, the vast majority display additional risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, physical inactivity, etc.
Gender difference is known to exert a different effect on the development of hypertension and cardiovascular risk. However, whether this difference could be taken as an additional factor in the prognosis and management of the disease has yet to be clarified. Yet experimental studies have determined that physical fitness or cardiorespiratory fitness is a vital sign strongly associated with cardiovascular risk (low cardiorespiratory fitness is correlated with an increase in this risk), as is an unhealthy dietary pattern.
Read more at University of the Basque Country
Image: Ilargi Gorostegi. Photos: Nuria González. UPV/EHU
