
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990                   TAG: 9005230401
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

EXERCISE PLAN MATCHES BLOOD-PRESSURE DRUGS

Regular physical exercise can be as effective as medication in treating moderately high blood pressure, a new study has found.

The findings, being reported today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, show that previously sedentary people can safely bring moderately high blood pressure under control without drugs if they are willing to exercise vigorously for 50 minutes three or four times a week.

As an added benefit, the 10-week exercise program significantly lowered total cholesterol levels while increasing the protective high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, which helps to cleanse the body of unwanted cholesterol.

On the other hand, one of the drugs studied, propranolol, lowered the high-density-lipoproteins, wiping out the benefit from the exercise program.

The research team was led by Dr. Michael H. Kelemen, a cardiologist with the Columbia Plan, a group health practice, in Columbia, Md.

- The New York Times

by CNB