High Risk Blood Pressure - What is it and What Can You Do About it?
Hypertension.
What is it? Blood pressure is made up of two forces One is created by the heart as it pumps blood into the arteries and through the circulatory system.
The other is the force of the arteries as they resist the blood flow.
The pressure exerted on the arteries when the heart is beating is called the systolic blood pressure, this is the top number in a blood pressure reading.
Diastolic blood pressure measure the pressure in your blood vessels between heartbeats ( when your heart is resting) represented by the bottom number in a blood pressure reading.
The normal reading for systolic is 120 and diastolic is 80, which is normally read 120/80.
Any readings above these are considered high or borderline.
What are the signs and symptoms of hypertension? Unfortunately in most cases there are no signs or symptoms.
Almost 72 million Americans age 6 and older have HBP.
This is about one in three adults.
About a third or half of the people may have HBP and not know it, hence it is known as the silent killer.
If left untreated HBP can lead to Stroke, Impaired Vision, Kidney Damage, Arteries and Coronary-artery disease, Heart Attack and Congestive Heart Failure.
There are several factors that can make one more susceptible to HBP.
1.
Obesity - making this a compelling reason to lose weight.
2.
Alcohol abuse - excessive drinking.
3.
Smoking - One more good reason to quit smoking.
If there were no other reason to quit smoking, this is it.
4.
Family History - if there are relatives in your family with HBP, It is a good idea to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis.
5.
High sodium diet.
Reducing your salt intake will be a wise investment in your health, you can start by limiting your junk food intake for e.
g high salt potato or corn chips, salted peanuts, salted pretzels and my personal favorite pork rinds.
Now that I have Hypertension, what can I do about it? If you are overweight and live a sedentary lifestyle, cutting out or limiting junk foods, reducing your salt intake and getting some exercise in might be good start.
If you smoke, quitting or cutting back on cigarettes smoked every day will go a long way to reducing your blood pressure not to mention other health benefits.
Paying your doctor a visit also is very important, who most likely depending on your case will prescribe blood pressure lowering medication, that you may have to take for the rest of your life.
If the thought of being on medication does not appeal to you, there are other alternative methods that can lower your blood pressure naturally.
You may be the one of the many millions missing out on this vital link to lower your blood pressure.
What is it? Blood pressure is made up of two forces One is created by the heart as it pumps blood into the arteries and through the circulatory system.
The other is the force of the arteries as they resist the blood flow.
The pressure exerted on the arteries when the heart is beating is called the systolic blood pressure, this is the top number in a blood pressure reading.
Diastolic blood pressure measure the pressure in your blood vessels between heartbeats ( when your heart is resting) represented by the bottom number in a blood pressure reading.
The normal reading for systolic is 120 and diastolic is 80, which is normally read 120/80.
Any readings above these are considered high or borderline.
What are the signs and symptoms of hypertension? Unfortunately in most cases there are no signs or symptoms.
Almost 72 million Americans age 6 and older have HBP.
This is about one in three adults.
About a third or half of the people may have HBP and not know it, hence it is known as the silent killer.
If left untreated HBP can lead to Stroke, Impaired Vision, Kidney Damage, Arteries and Coronary-artery disease, Heart Attack and Congestive Heart Failure.
There are several factors that can make one more susceptible to HBP.
1.
Obesity - making this a compelling reason to lose weight.
2.
Alcohol abuse - excessive drinking.
3.
Smoking - One more good reason to quit smoking.
If there were no other reason to quit smoking, this is it.
4.
Family History - if there are relatives in your family with HBP, It is a good idea to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis.
5.
High sodium diet.
Reducing your salt intake will be a wise investment in your health, you can start by limiting your junk food intake for e.
g high salt potato or corn chips, salted peanuts, salted pretzels and my personal favorite pork rinds.
Now that I have Hypertension, what can I do about it? If you are overweight and live a sedentary lifestyle, cutting out or limiting junk foods, reducing your salt intake and getting some exercise in might be good start.
If you smoke, quitting or cutting back on cigarettes smoked every day will go a long way to reducing your blood pressure not to mention other health benefits.
Paying your doctor a visit also is very important, who most likely depending on your case will prescribe blood pressure lowering medication, that you may have to take for the rest of your life.
If the thought of being on medication does not appeal to you, there are other alternative methods that can lower your blood pressure naturally.
You may be the one of the many millions missing out on this vital link to lower your blood pressure.