[Differential therapy of exercise hypertension]

Criteria for the diagnosis of exercise hypertension have not yet been established. Published values for blood pressure increase during dynamic exercise in normotensive healthy persons differ greatly dependent on age, sex, heart frequency and load of dynamic exercise. Upper normal systolic values during exercise reach levels between 200 and 230 mm Hg. The incidence of exercise hypertension is therefore reported to range from 1 to 10% of the total population. Follow-up studies show that 10 to 60% of persons with isolated exercise hypertension proceed to chronic arterial hypertension. No results are available on exercise hypertension as a risk factor in contrast to the well-known link between increased systolic and diastolic casual blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. The development of left-ventricular hypertrophy depends mainly on the average systolic blood pressure during a 24-hour period. Peak values of systolic blood pressure during the day or blood pressure variability are less important. Drug treatment of isolated exercise hypertension is not generally accepted. Non-drug treatment is to be preferred, e.g. weight reduction in overweight, dietary sodium restriction and endurance training. Drug treatment must be considered, if non-drug treatment is unsuccessful and/or risk factors, for example hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, cigarette smoking, or complications of target organs, i.e. coronary heart disease or cerebral infarction, do exist. In antihypertensive treatment of increased exercise blood pressure, the influence of the drugs on the hemodynamic and metabolic parameters must be observed, especially in patients with concomitant coronary heart disease. Increases in blood pressure due to dynamic exercise are better attenuated by antihypertensive drugs than those caused by isometric exercise. The drugs of choice are beta-blockers, preferably beta 1-blockers without ISA. Alternatively, calcium antagonists of the verapamil-type or ACE-inhibitors may be used. In contrast to other antihypertensive drugs, labetalol, calcium antagonists and ACE-inhibitors have no influence on the exercise-induced increase of cardiac index and therefore little effect on the work capacity of the circulatory system.