blood pressure

c12345

I have quite high blood pressure: It seems to average around 155/80, which is not off the scale, but is less than ideal.

I consider myself to be fit and healthy. I cycle about 250 miles a week (12 hours), I eat properly, cook from fresh, don't add salt etc... (I do like my cheese and wine though?)

I'm wondering if my blood pressure is effected in any way by other factors? eg I'm very tall and have a resting heart rate of 55 bpm, so do I need the pressure to move a larger volume of blood at a lower frequency? is the difference between the two figures relevant? does having a high metabolism have relevance?

I also wonder if it is safe for me to be cycling hard and fast?

Does anybody have similar experiences with bloood pressure? or should I go straight to the GP?

Feltup

You could ask and get some advice on here or you could ask your GP who knows about human physiology

I would get checked out by the quacks, better safe than sorry.

pbt150

Genetics.

Lifestyle (diet/exercise/drinking/smoking) has a much smaller effect on risks for various causes of death than your genes I'm afraid.

c12345

... yeah, my GP has it on record after a health check, which drew a 'tut-tut' from the nurse, but I don't think it was quite high enough to elicit a perscription, or even a followup. Incidentally, when asked if i was active I said I cycled to work, but failed to say how far it was, hence I got advice that 'I might have to try getting some exercise occasionally' .

I'm more worried about what my BP would be when I am pushing 180 bpm? and how dangerous it is? I can hear my blood pumping when I do. MTFD maybe?

jimsten

155/80 means you have hypertension and that can be quite bad for your heart. It's not got anything to do with heart rate and can be to do with any number of things like collesterol or stress. I have high blood pressure of around 145/80 because of a genetic condition called PKD (it affects 1 in 600 people and, curiously, in addition to high blood pressure another side effect of it is your kidneys create more epo). Anyhow I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if that high blood pressure count is not a blip you need to get yourself to a doc and see whether you need to takesomething to get it down. I hope you don't, it's a proper pain remembering to take them.

One thing though, high blood pressure should have no impact on the riding, far from it. Just bear in mind that high blood pressure is bad for your heart long term.

Apologies if I'm stating the obvious.

Hey Jax

c12345 wrote:

... yeah, my GP has it on record after a health check, which drew a 'tut-tut' from the nurse, but I don't think it was quite high enough to elicit a perscription, or even a followup. Incidentally, when asked if i was active I said I cycled to work, but failed to say how far it was, hence I got advice that 'I might have to try getting some exercise occasionally' .

I'm more worried about what my BP would be when I am pushing 180 bpm? and how dangerous it is? I can hear my blood pumping when I do. MTFD maybe?

has it been checked just the once, or is it regulary raised? if its a one-off, it may be due to "white coat syndrome" and may be normal out of the surgery. you could ask your Gp to let you do a weekly BP monitoring where they lend you a machine and you record it yourself several times/day in the comfort of your home/work etc..

prj45

I regulary get border line high blood pressure readings, goes away on the second take.

White coat syndrome for me.

When I give blood the nurse often says I look nervous, but strangely I don't feel it at all.

prj45

c12345 wrote:

I'm more worried about what my BP would be when I am pushing 180 bpm? and how dangerous it is? I can hear my blood pumping when I do. MTFD maybe?

I often get my heart into what feels like the back of my head going up Holland park avenue, it's calmed down after a minute or so and I've not killed myself yet, although sometimes I make myself feel a little bit sicky by pushing too hard.

jimmcdonnell

Current medical thinking has it that the diastolic (second number) is the important reading, as it's the pressure when your heart is resting between beats. The first (diastolic) figure is more prone to change. 'Normal' is considered 140/80, and my doctor considers my 145/90 average as 'high normal', which I'm not thrilled about. I've been diagnosed hypertensive for 12 years, and that figure is after taking 3 medications a day for 12 years. It's not a pain being on daily meds, better than dropping dead (or worse, "partly dead" as my doctor put it).

Exercise and good diet have no effect on my BP, so itt's medication ahoy. What's your cholesterol? Mine's high at 6.1 instead of <5, but again diet no help, trying to get statins is like getting blood from a stone - not the impression you get from the scaremongering media!

Keep an eye on it, don't take any bullsh!t from the quacks, you'll be fine. I take my BP morning and night as well as weight and notes, so when I see the doc I go loaded for bear. Excel graphs, the works, otherwise they just fob you off as a nuisance.

dialforclown

White coat syndrome can be overcome. After a check at work by a nurse I went to the doctors, rather than 155/96 I got it down to 135/92. The bottom is high but the top came way down.

It was done by making sure my arm was relaxed and thinking of somewhere pleasurable to be, on top of Bow Fell in the lake District.

Sort of mind over matter.

Was still told to but a blood pressure monitor and check it myself regularly.

nich

Do get it checked more than once.

I went to an NHS walk in-clinic a few months ago with tension headaches, they took my BP and it was 160/85.

She was a bit concerned so asked me to come back. This happened twice.

After this I was a little peeved as they kept asking me to pop back in for a BP test, so I decided to buy my own kit.

At home I was taking it daily for a short period just to monitor it - and voila, it was constantly around 120/80~.

The next time I had it checked at the docs it was also fine, so she put it down to white coat syndrome - probably right as I'm an anxious person quite a bit of time.

Nick

anweledig

How old are you? This has a big effect on bp. I was told recently that the top figure is quite normal at 100+your age. This plus the "white coat" effect can make a normal bp seem to be high.

A few regular checks (done at the same time of day for comparisons) will give you a better idea but if in any doubt speak to your doctor.

Stone Glider

+1 regular checks. I was bought a BPM by my daughters as a Fathers Day present 2005. My first reading was 182/116, the last ( a week ago ) 136/76. Three cheers for the redemptive powers of cycling, plus diet, medication and regular check-ups.

This applies to everyone but the older you get the more care you have to take.

FyPunK

I went to the well man clinic at our GP's, the nurse was not at all happy with the BP, Diastolic was at 112, she asked what I had changed since the last time they took it (5years ago) I told them improved my diet and took up cycling so I was a little shocked that it was so high, they checked it again the following week and again it was high, they put me on a 24 hr monitor and it went back as normal over the course of the day so it was looking like white coat, I monitor at home now 3 times a week twice a day and it seems ok. My average is around 145/80 and they are happy with that.

gert_lush

I had mine done with work the other week and was about 140/75 which was high average apparently (29yrs old) but my resting heartrate is about 41bpm and my HDL (good cholestrol) was 2.2 which apparently good and my bad cholestrol was very low, so all things combined they said it wasn't too much of a probablem as I am fit and eat well, but definately something to monitor (am not stressed in the slightest and very chilled out) so am interested with what other people are saying

Aguila

I am a doctor and can tell you that there is some good and some bad advice in these replies.

The figure you quote is a bit high and if persistent should be treated, especially if you have other "cardiovascular risk factors" eg smoking, raised cholesterol, diabetes or a family history of cardiovascular events such as strokes or heart attacks.

It does need to be demonstrated as persistently high, in the first instance with a few repeated measurements, it sounds as though it has been found to be high in the past.

As some others suggest here a 24 hour BP monitor may be helpful if there is a suggestion of white coat hypertension.

To deal with a few specific pieces of false information:

"How old are you? This has a big effect on bp. I was told recently that the top figure is quite normal at 100+your age." BP can go up with age but this doesn't make it ok, ignore.

"Current medical thinking has it that the diastolic (second number) is the important reading, as it's the pressure when your heart is resting between beats. The first (diastolic) figure is more prone to change." This used to be perceived wisdom a few years ago but it is now well recognised that systolic hypertension (the top number) is also a significant risk factor.

"can be to do with any number of things like collesterol or stress." Cholesterol does not alter your BP, however co-existing hypertension and high cholesterol increases cardiovascular risk.

"Genetics.

Lifestyle (diet/exercise/drinking/smoking) has a much smaller effect on risks for various causes of death than your genes I'm afraid" There's no doubt that your genes will be at least partly responsible for your BP, however the lifestyle factors mentioned will have a MAJOR impact on your overal risk. Do you have a family history of hypertension?


In conclusion you should go and see your GP and get a few measures done, alternatively you can buy BP cuffs quite cheaply now at boots etc if you want to do abit of home monitoring first. You might need treatment depending on the values you get and your health/risk factors otherwise. There is no reason for you to stop riding, being fit will tend to reduce your BP. Exercise does increase BP while you are doing it but this is quite normal, the dangers of hypertension occur over months and years not minutes and hours.

c12345

@Aguila: Thanks for that! You've certainly cleared a few things up. Very helpful.

I think I can rule out WCS, since its been consistently high on a number of occasions over the last six months, some of those at home with a loaned BP monitor. My family on both sides have had a history of cardiovascular events, and I believe high BP too in at least one case, although I think that lifestyle played a huge role in that (from up north).

upshot is, I'm going to go back to the GP shortly and take it a bit further, but its good to know I can carry on commuting.

Thanks everyone for the responses.