Dealing with High Blood Pressure

In modern society, our relatively new pampered lifestyles have brought forth a condition thats becoming more and more common over the years. Yup, yhou've guessed it. High blood pressure (hypertension).

So what if someone has high blood pressure ? How is that significant in any way ? Here in an introduction to what blood pressure actually is. Then, reading this hub would give you more insight into this topic. Basically, yes, a person with high blood pressure may feel and look well, and rarely has any symptoms. However, high blood pressure can make the heart and arteries work harder, consequently causing damage. There is a much higher possibility of hypertensive people havinga heart attack or a stroke at an earlier age than people with normal blood pressure.

But don't worry ! Thanks to much improvement in the medical/science industry, modern treament can reverse most of these effects.

For those who are mildly hypertensive, the doctor will usually recommend certain changes in their lifestyle in order to keep blood pressure at a reasonable level. Others may be prescribed life-long anti-hypertensive medication. When taken following the instructions for use, the risk of a stroke or heart attack will be greatly reduced due to its properties to prevent early aging of the heart and blood vessels.

A healthy lifestyle can help keep the blood pressure levels down. Maintaining a healthy weight is an element of this type of lifestyle. The key (easier said than done, mind) is to keep your weight at a level that is right for your height and build. The closest measuring tool we could get access to would be the BMI or Body Mass Index which lets you know whether you have the healthy weight for your height. It is not ideal because it does not account for our age, gender, race, build or boneframe. These factors differ in everyone, so the score should not be taken too seriously. It is however, a pretty effective rough guide as to where you stand...

Eat less salt ! The sodium in salt can cause problems associated with high blood pressure. These salts include table salt, seasalt, iodised salt, garlic salt, onion salt etc etc. Salt is also found in processed foods, so to help maintain your blood pressure at a healthy level, reduce the smount of salt you add to your food and eat less processed foods. Don't forget to include more fresh vegetables, fruit and wholegrain cereals in your diet !

A high cholesterol is often assiciated with hypertension. Less fat and fatty food consumption will help keep your cholesterol at a healthy level...another important way of reducing the risks of heart disease. If you have high blood pressure, you should have your cholesterol levels checked by your doctor.

You may have heard that small amounts of alcohol can help protect against heart disease. But don't over do it ! Drinking large amounts of alcohol can increase the blood pressure as well as damaging the heart and the liver.

If you do drink though, spread your drinking over the week and keep some days alcohol-free. Do not drink more than the recommended upper limits:

For men - 21 standard drinks a week.

For women - 14 standard drinks a week.

1 standard drink (or 10 grams of alcohol)

= one ½ pint of beer, stout, or lager

= one small glass of wine

= one glass of spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin)

Do keep in mind that albohol is a drug and may be a risk for other health problems.

Another one of those contradictory slogans by the Government to confuse the general public ? Let me explain.

If you have stress, it will cause a short-term rise in your blood pressure. Yes, thats right, short-term . However, its long-term effect on you is more difficult to combat. Learning to relax and cope with stress can benefit you in many ways, and may help to keep your blood pressure levels low. Check out this interesting hub to give you a few pointers on how to get rid of stress.

One of these would be to get active . Believe it or not, physical exercise is a great way to reduce stress and help you feel good ! Long-term regular exercise can lower your blood pressure and as well as help to control your weight. But if you have very high blood pressure, consult your doctor before you start doing any form of activity.

The tobacco in cigarettes can cause a build up of plaque in the arteries, narrowing them, and consequently contribute to causing blood pressure to rise, which again can lead to many many difficulties. You can greatly reduce this risk by immediately stopping -there are a lot of quitting helplines floating around these days- but realistically, if you're not up for it, at least try to reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke.

Hope this hub was useful...All the best ! (of wealth....and health)