Blood Pressure Recovery Curves After Submaximal Exercise

The purpose of this study is to examine the usefulness of blood pressure recovery curves after submaximal exercise in apparently normotensive young adults as an early predictor for hypertension. Twenty-six college age males in 1977, with normal blood pressures at rest, were given the Harvard Step Test and postexercise blood pressures were recorded. Criteria were set that differentiated a hypertensive from a normotensive response to exercise. In 1987, these individuals were contacted regarding their blood pressure status. Nine out of ten subjects who demonstrated a hypertensive response to exercise in 1977, now have been given the diagnosis of hypertension. Eleven out of twelve subjects who demonstrated a normotensive response to exercise in 1977, now are still considered to be normotensive. A proposed hypothesis is that during the course of this disease, exercise can unmask hypertension in subjects who have the potential for developing hypertension but currently have a normal resting blood pressure.