WEIGHT LIFTING HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND THE DANGER OF DISSECTING AORTA HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SPIKES IN SOME WEIGHT LIFTERS COULD BE DANGEROUS

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The risk of weight lifting increasing blood pressure and causing of a tear in a large blood vessel called aortic dissection has generally been under appreciated. Weight lifting can cause increases in blood pressure when the weights are being lifted. High blood pressure spikes especially in some people who may have a medical problem that they don't know about could be especially dangerous. Normal blood pressure measurement gives readings of 110-130/70-88. "Powerlifters can generate a much higher pressure. Like pressure in a piping system, high pressure can cause a failure in the system. The aorta is the large artery that carries the freshly pumped blood away from the heart and distributes it to the body.

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Dr. John Elefteriades, a cardiac surgeon at Yale takes a special interest in weight lifters and aortic aneurysms. Elefteriades recommended weight lifters don't send blood pressure into giant spikes.That is the comment in a research letter about dissecting aortic aneurysm and strenuous lifting such as heavy weight lifting that appeared in JAMA in 2003. The cases of weight lifters with aneurysms should teach some weight trainers to be cautious, the JAMA letter said. "These include patients with known aneurysms or connective tissue disease, a family history of aneurysm or dissection, underlying high blood pressure or being middle aged or older, it said".

Reviewed Cases of Five People With Aortic Aneurysm Dissection While Doing Strenuous Exercise

Doctors from Yale Medical School including John A. Elefteriades, identified and reviewed cases of 5 people who had experienced acute dissection of the ascending aorta in the setting of high intensity weight training or other strenuous excercise. All experienced an acute aneurysm dissection pain while they were doing something strenuous. Two were doing push ups, another 2 were lifting weights and the fifth was trying to move a heavy object.

What is the Aorta

The aorta is the large artery that carries the freshly pumped blood away from the heart's left ventricle and distributes it to the body. The aorta is the biggest of all the arteries and like the other arteries is composed of layers which makes sense when you consider that arteries carry blood under pressure versus veins which usually carry blood returning to the heart.

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What is an Aneurysm and What is a Dissecting Aneurysm

The layers of the arteries can weaken and start to bulge. That bulge is called an aneurysm. A sudden tear in a layer is called a dissection. Needless to say a sudden tear in an artery as important as the aorta can have very serious consequences.

Weight Lifting and Rupture of Silent Aortic Aneurysms Elefteriades et al. JAMA.2003; 290: 2803.