Seema Hasnain, Naheed Humayun Sheikh, Muhammad Ashraf Majrooh.
Impact of lifestyles on high blood pressure among married males above 40 years of age visiting OPD of JHL.
J Allama Iqbal Med Coll Jan ;6(4):27-36.

Objective: To establish the strength of association between the lifestyle factors and hypertension. Study Design: Case Control Study Place and duration of study: Medical OPD of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore during September –December 2006 Patients and Methods: By using non probability convenient sampling 134 individuals (out of which 67 were cases and 67 were controls) fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected. Their life style factors including tobacco smoking, physical activity, stress, drug/substance use and dietary habits regarding frequency of use of meat, fruit, vegetables, dairy products and use of salt were assessed by a pre-tested questionnaire. Results: Out of 134 respondents, 52% of cases and 60% of controls fall between the ages of 41-50 years in both. Inverse relationship has been found between exercise and hypertension (P-value <0.05).Stress in the form of financial problems, worries about children and tense marital relationship is associated with hypertension (P-value <0.05)). Eating dairy products daily has also shown significant association with hypertension (P-value <0.05). There is association of smoking with hypertension but it is not statistically significant (P-value>0.05). Conclusion: Regular exercise can prevent occurrence of high blood pressure. Eating dairy products has also shown protective effect. Tense marital relationship is also a risk factor for hypertension. The best way to control the hypertension is to combine physical activity with healthy eating habits and avoiding stress.

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