Older men with high blood pressure could reduce their risk of death by going for brisk walks every other day, a new study has found.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a ‘silent predator' because it rarely carries any signs or symptoms, despite causing damage to blood vessels and the heart. A person can look and feel well even if they have it. The condition is a major cause of heart attack and stroke.

US scientists followed the progress of over 2,100 men aged 70 and older. All of the men had high blood pressure and all had their fitness levels assessed.

The scientists used METs (metabolic equivalents) - the international units used to measure fitness - to assess the men's peak fitness levels.

A MET is equivalent to the amount of oxygen used by the body per kilogram of body weight per minute. One MET is considered the amount of energy that is needed when at rest. Anything above this represents work. The higher your METs, the fitter you are.

"To put this in perspective, the peak MET level of a sedentary 50-year-old is about five to six METs. For a moderately fit individual, it's about seven to nine METS, and for a highly fit person, it's 10 to 12 METs. Still, marathon runners, cyclists and other long distance athletes often have MET levels of 20 or higher," the scientists pointed out.

The participants were followed up for an average of nine years and were divided into four groups based on their fitness - very low, low, moderate and high.

The study found that at the end of the study period, the risk of death was 11% lower for every MET increase in exercise capacity.

"Although this does not sound like a big drop in the death rate, the impact of it is revealed when we compared low, moderate and high-fit individuals to the least fit, who achieved less or equal to four METs," the scientists noted.

Compared to those in the very low fitness group, those in the low group had an 18% reduced risk of death, those in the moderate group had a 36% reduced risk and those in the high fitness group had a 48% reduced risk.
In other words, for every 100 people in the very low fitness group who died ‘82 died in the low-fit, 64 in the moderate-fit and 52 in the high-fit categories.

"The death rate is cut in half for those in the highest fitness category," the team from George Washing University said.

They emphasised that even moderate levels of fitness could make a big difference to older people with high blood pressure, adding that this level of fitness ‘is achievable by most elderly individuals engaging in a brisk walk of 20 to 40 minutes, most days of the week'.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Hypertension.

For more information on heart health, see our Heart Disease Clinic here