Exercise guidance in hypertension.
About 50 million American adults have systolic blood pressure (BP) greater than 140 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP greater than 90 mm Hg ((1)). Hypertension is a leading risk factor for stroke, congestive heart failure, angina, renal failure, and myocardial infarction at all ages and in both sexes. Because of its adverse impact on health, high blood pressure is one of the related focus areas in the Healthy People 2010 report (section 12-9). The 1997 Joint National Committee (JNC 6) on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure determined risk categories for hypertension and proposed methods for treatment (table 1) ((2)).
Stewart
K J
KJ
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA. kstewart@mail.jhmi.edu.