{"id":30993,"date":"2013-01-24T18:21:52","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T18:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=30993"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:10:22","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:10:22","slug":"doctors-ditching-drugs-part-ii-alan-freishtat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/physical-health\/doctors-ditching-drugs-part-ii-alan-freishtat\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors Ditching Drugs, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s column<\/a> examined the role that exercise can play in reducing and possibly eliminating the need for statins and blood pressure medication<\/a>. We also discussed the positive effects of exercise for diabetics. This week, we will discuss the benefits of exercise vis-\u00e0-vis high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer.<\/em><\/p>\n

High Blood Pressure<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is known as the \u201csilent killer\u201d since the symptoms sometimes do not appear until it is too late. \u00a0Hypertension – a very treatable condition – is prevalent in more than 20% of the population. Another significant number of people have what is referred to as \u201chigh normal\u201d or \u201cborderline\u201d blood pressure – that is, their readings fall slightly above the normal range and as such, they are now at risk for hypertension.<\/p>\n

\"work<\/a>Exercise can prevent or cure high blood pressure. An inactive person has a 20-50% higher risk of developing high blood pressure than an active person. \u00a0This statistic is based on studies performed at both Harvard University and the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research. \u00a0Even without weight loss, aerobic exercise can lower blood pressure by up to 10 points. \u00a0And one of the great things about exercising to reduce blood pressure is that you usually start seeing results after only a few short weeks of starting a program. \u00a0An added bonus: as exercisers also tend to lose weight and concentrate on diet, results can go far beyond the 10 points mentioned above.<\/p>\n

High Cholesterol<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in all animal products. \u00a0The human body makes cholesterol in the liver and absorbs some of it through the diet. \u00a0It is essential for the body and is used to produce hormones, form bile acids for digestion of fats and build cell membranes. \u00a0However, too much cholesterol in the blood can spell trouble in the form of increased risk of coronary heart disease.<\/p>\n

Approximately 30% of Americans have high cholesterol. In a study at Stanford University, male and female runners were found to have higher HDL levels than sedentary controls in the study. \u00a0Total cholesterol levels, LDL, and triglycerides were all found to be lower than the sedentary group. \u00a0And the greater distance and time the runners ran, the better their results. \u00a0As with blood pressure, the results of exercising usually included some weight loss as well, contributing even more to overall improvement. \u00a0In both of these cases, cholesterol, blood pressure AND the risk of cardiovascular disease were all lowered substantially with exercise.<\/p>\n

Steps you can take which will usually lower your overall cholesterol, lower your LDL (bad cholesterol) and raise your HDL (good cholesterol) include:<\/p>\n