Body fat and blood pressure control

In response to a stressful event, it is normal for a person's blood pressure to rise and then fall after the event. But excess body fat impairs the body's ability to control blood pressure in a stressful event. One key pathway of blood pressure regulation is through the release of salt, or sodium chloride, in the urine, a process called natriuresis. Researchers from the Medical College of Georgia, USA, studied body composition and natriuresis in 127 subjects with an average age of 16 years. Stress was induced by having the subjects play a competitive video game for an hour. It was found that the amount of salt released in the urine dropped as body fat increased. It was found that stress was associated with an increase in blood pressure and natriuresis. 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. Hence it was found that fitness facilitates the ability to regulate blood pressure while obesity impedes the ability to regulate blood pressure through the ability to regulate sodium.

Show full article