Every time your heart beats, it pushes blood, nutrients, and oxygen through your arteries to reach the rest of your body. But when you have high blood pressure, it's a sign that your heart is having to work too hard to pump that blood where it needs to go. The result: Damaged arteries, a worn-out heart, and an increased risk of heart disease—which is to blame for the deaths of one in three women every year. Here's what causes high blood pressure, and how you can fight whatever might be throwing your heart into overdrive.
Sitting too much ages you by 8 years!
But exercise can counteract it. A new study finds sitting too much during the day has been linked to a host of diseases, from obesity to heart problems and diabetes, as well as early death. It’s not hard to understand why: being inactive can contribute to weight gain, which in turn is a risk factor for heart attack, stroke, hypertension and unhealthy blood sugar levels. On top of everything else, sitting has detrimental effects on cells at the biological level, according to a new report published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.