Body Fat >>> Blood Pressure

[Guest guest]

Hi folks (and especially JW!):

" Body fat reduces ability to control blood pressure.

In response to a stressful event, it is normal for a person's blood

pressure to rise and then fall after the event. Now, new research

indicates that excess body fat impairs the body's ability to control

blood pressure in this situation.

One key way that blood pressure is regulated is through the release

of salt, or sodium chloride, in the urine, a process called

natriuresis. In the current study, the amount of salt released in the

urine dropped as body fat increased.

" Fitness facilitates the ability to regulate blood pressure; fatness

impedes your ability to regulate blood pressure through your ability

to regulate sodium, " study co-author Dr. Harshfield, from the

Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, said in a statement.

The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Hypertension,

are based on a study of body composition and natriuresis in 127

African American and white subjects with an average age of 16 years.

Stress was induced by having the subjects play a competitive video

game for an hour.

As expected, stress was associated with an increase in blood pressure

and natriuresis, the authors note. The magnitude of these changes

deceased as body fat rose. Further analysis showed that a person's

race predicted how high the blood pressure increased during stress.

" The major finding of this study is that body composition is related

to the pressure natriuresis response to mental stress, " the authors

conclude.

SOURCE: American Journal of Hypertension, November 2004. "

Rodney.

[Guest guest]

But "fitness" is not the opposite of fatness. Fat people can probably lose more sodium walking 5 miles than a "fit" person, whomever that is. But that "fat" they lose will be mostly water weight, not grease.

I imagine there's a lot of "mental" stress reaching for that next chocolate if they cant reach it easily, but I think it's not mental stress at issue but biological stress. HTNers dont lose sodium as easily, they retain sodium more easily because that's how the kidneys raise BP. Force it out by exercise - sweating, or by muscle contraction force it out of edemous legs thru the lymph system into the veinous system, and it (sodium) gets excreted.

That lowers BP. If you dont eat more salt, it stays low, regardless of "fatness". I've seen very fat people with no HTN.

Regards.

----- Original Message -----

From: Rodney

Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 7:42 PM

Subject: [ ] Body Fat >>> Blood Pressure

Hi folks (and especially JW!):"Body fat reduces ability to control blood pressure. In response to a stressful event, it is normal for a person's blood pressure to rise and then fall after the event. Now, new research indicates that excess body fat impairs the body's ability to control blood pressure in this situation. One key way that blood pressure is regulated is through the release of salt, or sodium chloride, in the urine, a process called natriuresis. In the current study, the amount of salt released in the urine dropped as body fat increased. "Fitness facilitates the ability to regulate blood pressure; fatness impedes your ability to regulate blood pressure through your ability to regulate sodium," study co-author Dr. Harshfield, from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, said in a statement. The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Hypertension, are based on a study of body composition and natriuresis in 127 African American and white subjects with an average age of 16 years. Stress was induced by having the subjects play a competitive video game for an hour. As expected, stress was associated with an increase in blood pressure and natriuresis, the authors note. The magnitude of these changes deceased as body fat rose. Further analysis showed that a person's race predicted how high the blood pressure increased during stress. "The major finding of this study is that body composition is related to the pressure natriuresis response to mental stress," the authors conclude. SOURCE: American Journal of Hypertension, November 2004."Rodney.