High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a cardiac medical condition in which arterial blood pressure is higher than normal. Blood pressure is observed using two specific measurements: systolic and diastolic. The former is the arterial pressure during the contraction of the heart, while the latter is the pressure measured between two heartbeats. Because of this, the systolic measurement is normally higher. It is recommended that you refer to the blood pressure chart after reading these tips.
The measurement unit for blood pressure is mm/Hg and normal blood pressure is around 120/80 mm/Hg. This figure is not always found when measuring the blood pressure of most people, however, since there are many who suffer from either high or low blood pressure. Some deviations from the normal measurement are natural, as they can simply be the result of stress and often go away when you simply relax. When the figure rises above 140/90 mm/Hg however, the diagnosis is most definitely hypertension.
Causes and Symptoms
The precise cause of high blood pressure is generally unknown in more than 90% of cases. While this fact remains true for most people, prevention can still be possible, as there are many influencing factors that can contribute to the development of the unbalance.
First of all, doctors consider that the older a person may be, the more likely it is for them to develop hypertension. While this is not a rule, statistics show that many people over 50 years of age develop high blood pressure for no apparent reason.
Race, heredity and gender can also be contributing factors to having the disease. However, many of the claims made about this fact are largely based on surveys without any substantial proof.
Some factors that definitely can cause high blood pressure are much easier to change. These, first of all, include obesity and lack of exercise. As the body weight increases, the blood pressure also rises(reference blood pressure chart), since the heart needs to work much harder than normally. Other causes can also include alcohol consumption, sodium sensitivity or certain types of medication.
When it comes to symptoms, hypertension doesn’t usually show any clear signs of its presence. People with high blood pressure don’t even know that they have it most of the time until they actually have their blood pressure measured. Sometimes, it can cause headaches, dizziness and shortness of breath or blurred vision; however, these symptoms can rarely be used as more than a mild hint as to their cause, since so many medical problems have similar effects.
High Blood Pressure and Its Effects on Our Health
Because the disease rarely has any clear symptoms, many people don’t seek medical help until it’s too late. Long term high blood pressure can often cause organ damage and various other serious problems or diseases that can be prevented if you have regular checkups.
Those who only want to search for treatment when they start feeling bad are often in danger of having heart attacks, heart failures, gradual vision loss, kidney failure and many other unbalances. It is very important therefore to have a preventive attitude, since without measuring your blood pressure regularly the problem can go undetected for years and create irreparable damage to your body.
The Steps to Reducing Your Blood Pressure (also see blood pressure chart)
1. Following a Healthy Diet – Since high blood pressure is often associated with obesity and increased calorie intake, following a healthy eating habit can be of great help. Clinical studies along with efforts made by specialists in nutrition have showed that diets that have an emphasis on fruit, vegetables and low fat dairy products have shown incredible results in the fight against hypertension.
Also, the reduction of fat and cholesterol in your diet will assist your body to speed up its metabolism and reduce body weight. This will gradually help you eliminate high blood pressure altogether and will improve your life considerably in the future.
2. Reducing Salt and Sodium intake – Salt and sodium are two substances that can worsen cases of hypertension quite fast. While most people can easily reduce salt intake by using it less in the foods they prepare, it is not always clear how sodium can be eliminated.
One good course of action would be to reduce frozen dinners, pizza, canned soup, packaged mixes or similar “convenience” foods. These can have a quite high sodium and salt concentration that will be bad for your blood pressure. Instead, you can use more herbs, salads and various seasonings that are low in salt as well as fresh fish or poultry instead of canned food.
3. Limiting Alcohol and Smoking – Alcohol and smoking are very disruptive and can negatively influence blood pressure. Alcohol can harm the liver, heart and brain as well, so it is normally recommended to drink it as rarely as possible. Occasional drinks and beverages that have a low alcohol concentration are harmless if taken in low amounts, but having more than one or two drinks a day is not recommended.
Smoking is much more serious. Many doctors advise that you try to quit smoking altogether if you want to reduce your blood pressure, as continual smoking damages the blood vessels and hardens the arteries. Even though it is not directly linked to high blood pressure, smoking can be very dangerous for those who already have this medical condition, so the best advice would be to quit the practice completely.
4. Sports and Physical Activity – Losing weight can rarely be achieved by simply limiting the intake of certain foods and remaining sedentary. An excellent advice for those who would like to lower their blood pressure is to take up a sport and be more active in their daily life. Playing football or tennis or simply going out jogging every morning would be excellent for your blood pressure, as the effort will help improve blood circulation and the metabolism.
5. Reducing Stress – Stress is definitely a factor that can increase hypertension considerably. People often do not even realize these days how stressful their lives are. Being in a busy office all day long and working under the pressure of deadlines is often a very easy way of falling into unbalance. You might not be able to let go of such activities; however, you can still limit their effects by relaxing more. Music has been proven to have very calming effects. Even listening for only an hour or two per day to some relaxing music can refresh your entire being and often remove the stressful effects of your day easily.
6. Dietary Supplements – There are certain products that are designed to supplement our nutritional intake. Some of these products can often have profound effects of increasing the overall health and immunity of the body. People have also claimed that after only a few days of using such supplements they have felt much better overall and some have even claimed that their blood pressure has stabilized at a normal level. Even though not all of these products can be trusted, there is definitely something “real” about them, since so many people have obtained excellent results after using them.
7. Herbal Remedies and Teas – Some would say that nature has always provided everything that we need. There is definitely some truth in that, since many of those who ignore natural products are much more likely to become ill, according to statistics.
Various herbal brews and remedies, especially tea, have proven to show extremely positive results against hypertension. The benefits of tea in calming arterial pressure has actually been recognized for many years and modern studies show that those who drink more tea are most certainly less prone to developing high blood pressure than those who don’t.
8. Medication – Many people consider these days that western medicine is much less reliable than it has been considered in the past. Nevertheless, the results that certain drugs are able to produce are quite clear even without any type of side effect. Of course, when you use pills to feel better, the danger of developing dependency issues always exists, but certain types of medication can always help you regain your strength until you are able to change your lifestyle in order to reduce high blood pressure altogether.
9. Oriental Practices – The calming effects of yoga and various meditation techniques are quite legendary these days. While such practices were only known in places like India or Chine until a few decades ago, western scientists have had many opportunities to study the effects of yoga and meditation on the human body, and many claim that, under certain conditions, blood pressure has been normalized literally after only one or two sessions.
10. Unconventional Remedies – There are some who claim that unconventional practices such as acupuncture, homeopathy or hypnotic suggestion can also have exceptionally benefic effects on high blood pressure patients. However, few are those who are willing to venture a guess as to how or why these practices sometimes produce such exceptional results, so their efficiency is still not seen as valid by most scientists.
Still, despite the fact that no one knows (yet) how they work, these unique practices have still been seen in action by many satisfied patients, many of whom consider them to be authentic healing practices.
All in all, even though determining the exact causes of high blood pressure is quite a difficult task, there are quite a few ways to prevent or alleviate this condition. The important thing is to take action as soon as possible, to reduce the risk of further complications. Remember to regularly reference a blood pressure chart and understand what your blood pressure numbers mean.