Nearly 1.3 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure, the primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease-related death. However, findings from a recent study suggest that greater cardiorespiratory fitness offsets some of the risks associated with having high blood pressure.

The study involved nearly 2,300 middle-aged men enrolled in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, an ongoing study of heart disease risk factors among men and women living in Finland. Researchers measured the participants' blood pressures (classified as normal or high) and cardiorespiratory fitness levels (classified as low, medium, or high).

They found that high blood pressure increased a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease-related death by 39 percent, and low fitness increased risk by 74 percent. These findings were consistent even after considering other risk factors, including age, body mass index, cholesterol levels, smoking status, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, physical activity, socioeconomic status, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation).

Men with high blood pressure and low fitness levels were more than twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those with normal blood pressure and high fitness levels. However, men with high blood pressure and high fitness levels were only 55 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

These findings suggest that exercise markedly reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, even among men with high blood pressure. Interestingly, sauna use also reduces blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease-related death. Learn more in this clip featuring Dr. Jari Laukkanen (one of the authors of this study.)

• Read full publication.