It turns out that helping others can also help you protect yourself from high blood pressure.
New research from Carnegie Mellon University shows that older adults who volunteer for at least 200 hours per year decrease their risk of hypertension, or high blood pressure, by 40 percent. The study, published by the American Psychological Association’s Psychology and Aging journal, suggests that volunteer work may be an effective non-pharmaceutical option to help prevent the condition. Hypertension affects an estimated 65 million Americans and is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.
“Everyday, we are learning more about how negative lifestyle factors like poor diet and lack of exercise increase hypertension risk,” said Rodlescia S. Sneed, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology in CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and lead author of the study. “Here, we wanted to determine if a positive lifestyle factor like volunteer work could actually reduce disease risk. And, the results give older adults an example of something that they can actively do to remain healthy and age successfully.”