High blood pressure = harder working heart = bad??!
Question: From http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/art...
>If you have high blood pressure, your heart has to work >harder to pump blood around your body which, over time, >can weaken it
Usually workign a muscle hard is considered 'exercise' and is a good thing - why is giving your heart extra exercise in this instance bad?
Answers: From http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/art...
>If you have high blood pressure, your heart has to work >harder to pump blood around your body which, over time, >can weaken it
Usually workign a muscle hard is considered 'exercise' and is a good thing - why is giving your heart extra exercise in this instance bad?
there is a division between working a muscle followed by recovery, and overworking a muscle to the point of failure. if you lift weights you will know that there is a point where you overdo it, and your muscles just wont perform any more. that is what happens with your heart. it is good to work it, as in exercise where you work it, and then allow it to rest and recover. over time it becomes stronger without becoming enlarged and overworked.
Because it's working harder than is it was designed to do. Other muscles are meant to grow/increase in size. The heart is not. It has limited room and only grows/increases in size as you mature.
***Addition after browsing a bit***
"High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attack. The arteries bring oxygen-carrying blood to the heart muscle. If the heart cannot get enough oxygen, chest pain, also known as "angina," can occur. If the flow of blood is blocked, a heart attack results."
Check out this link:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/hbp/effect/...
yes
Well.. idle your car at 6000 revs all day every day and you will blow a piston ... same thing.
The resting bp rate is important.. because your bp will go through the roof when you really try to exercise.
When you do exercise your legs for example.. it is followed by rest to avoid fatigue.. if you do not rest your leg muscles cramp up and can deteriate...... it is the same problem for your heart.
But it is not good in this case. Blood pressure is defined as the amount of pressure exerted on the walls of the arteries as the blood moves through them. It is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). Both the systolic and diastolic pressures are measured and these figures are usually represented with the systolic pressure first, followed by the diastolic pressure.
So - if your GP says that your blood pressure is '120 over 80', or 120/80 mmHg, what they mean is that you have a systolic pressure of 120 mmHg, and a diastolic pressure of 80 mmHg
The heart is a muscle that is designed to pump a constant supply of blood around the body.
The right side of the heart pumps blood that is low in oxygen towards the lungs so that it can then be transferred into your lungs where it will receive more oxygen. The muscle wall of the right side of the heart is much thinner than that of the left side because it does not have to pump blood as far. It also pumps at a lower pressure than the left, which is known as the diastolic pressure.
The left side of the heart pumps oxygen- rich blood around the body so that the oxygen can be used by the muscles and the cells in your body. As the left side of the heart has to pump blood right the way around your body, the muscle wall on this side is much thicker, and pumps at a higher pressure than the right. This pressure is known as the systolic pressure