Worldwide, hypertension is a leading cause of death and disability. Too much pressure in blood vessels can lead to such complications as chest pain, heart failure, blocked arteries, kidney damage, and death.

For the last 15 years, human kinetics professor Cheri McGowan, co-founder of the Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Research Lab, has been conducting studies together with her students and collaborators focused on isometric handgrip training — a form of resistance training that involves squeezing a handgrip interspersed with short periods of rest.

It is “simple, inexpensive, time-efficient, and highly tolerable,” Dr. McGowan says. “People need therapies that do not cost a lot of money and that they can do over their lifetimes.”

She is part of an international team launching a study to investigate its effectiveness among individuals living in rural Uganda.

“This is an incredible opportunity to use our expertise to help people who need effective BP control in a part of the world that needs it the most,” says McGowan.  “To see our laboratory-based research impacting clinical guidelines and practice within my career is something truly remarkable.”

Learn more in the full article, “Getting a grip on cardiovascular health,” published in the Research and Innovation in Action report.