Workout to breathe easy with high BP

High blood pressure affects breathing capacity but physical activity can help, suggests new study

- PTI

High blood pressure impairs one's breathing capacity by hardening the airways in the respiratory system, thereby increasing resistance, a study has found. However, being physically active can help by improving the functioning of respiratory muscles, resulting in better coordination between ventilation and blood flow in the lungs, researchers from the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, found.

Hypertension, in which one's blood pressure remains unusually high, is known to thicken the blood vessels and harden the arteries.

The researchers said that something similar happens with the bronchi -- branches of the main windpipe (trachea) -- in the respiratory system as well.