It’s true that exercise will always lower the risk of dementia. But for one type of person, a particular kind of exercise may actually increase the risk of dementia. Anyone suffering from hypertension must avoid high-impact sports, largely because the intense physical activity will put more strain on the blood vessels. The issue with high blood pressure isn’t just that the number are too high, it’s what the numbers indicate – and they indicate the blood vein walls take a pounding each time the heart pumps blood throughout the body, especially the brain.
The blood veins in the brain are so delicate that even without hypertension, people take care not to endure physical trauma to their heads. With hypertension, that physical trauma is silently taking place inside the head.
The obvious types of high-impact sports include intense cardiovascular workouts, but one that escapes people’s attentions is isometrics. Isometrics are any activity that require muscles to be “strained”, acting against other muscles or a fixed object. In other words, weightlifting is a form of isometrics. So are non-weightlifting forms such as flexing muscles. This may be disappointing news for people who want to form contoured muscles, but if they have high blood pressure and are continuing to do isometrics – all that work may actually be shortening their quality of life. After all, it’s a shame to achieve something if one can’t remember it.
Take care of the hypertension first with diet and gentler forms of exercise. Then move on to isometrics.
