Managing blood pressure could help you live longer
or high blood pressure occurs when your heart is pumping blood too strongly through your body, putting extra strain on your blood vessels, heart and other organs, thereby increasing your risk of several potentially life-threatening health conditions.
Such conditions include heart disease, heart attack, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, aortic aneurisms, kidney disease and vascular dementia.
That is why managing your blood pressure and knowing what blood pressure measurements mean is important. Yet many people know little about high blood pressure or how to measure it. Many people who are hypertensive are unaware of it.
To increase awareness of hypertension, the World Hypertension League, the umbrella organisation of 85 national hypertension societies and leagues across the world, in 2006 launched World Hypertension Day, which has been marked on May 17 every year since then.
Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 1,28 billion adults aged between 30 and 79 have hypertension. An estimated 46% of them are unaware that they have it.
Less than half of adults with hypertension are diagnosed and treated. Only about one in five adults with hypertension have it under control.
This year’s theme for World Hypertension Day is ‘Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately. Control It, Live Longer’. Its main aim is to increase awareness worldwide, especially in low to middle income areas, and to promote accurate blood pressure measurement methods.
Causes
The exact cause of hypertension is still unknown. However, several factors have been identified as likely causes. These include stress, smoking, being overweight or obese, lack of physical activity, excessive alcohol consumption, too much salt in your diet, old age and genetics.
It is believed that one in every 20 cases of hypertension is due to an underlying health condition or medication being taken.
Chronic kidney disease commonly results in high blood pressure. The kidneys help filter waste and extra fluids from the blood. When this does not happen, the excess fluid may lead to hypertension. While stress is a commonly acknowledged likely cause or contributing factor, sometimes high blood pressure just happens when there is no obvious stress involved and none of the other likely causes are present.
Risk factors
A number of risk factors increase the chances of hypertension. These include your age, size and weight, alcohol and tobacco use, and gender, with men more prone to hypertension at a younger age than women.
Existing health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and high cholesterol levels are all risk factors.
Other contributing factors, include physical inactivity, a salt rich diet associated with processed and fatty foods, a low potassium diet, alcohol and tobacco use as well as certain diseases and medications.
A family history of high blood pressure and poorly managed stress may increase your risk of hypertension.
Symptoms
Hypertension is sometimes called the silent killer because there are generally no noticeable symptoms. While undetected, it can cause damage to your cardiovascular system and internal organs, such as kidneys.
Checking your blood pressure regularly is, therefore, vital as there will usually be no symptoms to make you aware of the condition. Although there are generally no symptoms, high blood pressure may cause sweating, anxiety, sleeping problems and blushing. If it reaches the levels of a hypertensive crisis a person may experience headaches and nosebleeds.
Long-term hypertension can cause complications leading to the narrowing of blood vessels. This will make hypertension worse as the heart must then pump harder to deliver blood to the body.
BP measurement
Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury. It is given as a pair of numbers, expressed as one number over the other. The upper number is systolic pressure, which is the pressure when your heart pumps blood out. The lower number measures the diastolic pressure, which is the presHYPERTENSION sure between heart beats.
Normal blood pressure is 120/80 or lower. It is considered elevated but not yet hypertension if the top number is between 120 and 129 and the bottom number is below 80. Stage one hypertension is when the top number ranges from 130 to 139 or the bottom number is between 80 and 89. Stage two hypertension is when the top number is 140 or higher or the bottom is 90 or higher. Blood pressure higher than 180/120 is an emergency.
Treatment
Making some lifestyle is the first step managing your blood before it reaches the hypertension.
Hypertension is closely related to excess body weight. Weight reduction is normally followed by a fall in blood pressure. This can make a big difference to people with hypertension, who are overweight. Regular physical exercise is recommended as it not only helps reduce weight but reduces high blood pressure. Simple forms of exercise include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or dancing. You can also try highintensity interval training, which involves alternating short bursts of intense activity with subsequent recovery periods of lighter activity.
Strength training can also help reduce blood pressure. Aim to include strength training exercises at least two days a week.
It is important to be consistent with your exercise routine as you risk the chances of your blood pressure shooting up again if you stop exercising.
Stress reduction is also important. Avoiding stressful situations may help. More important still is developing strategies to manage unavoidable stress.
Alcohol, drugs and unhealthy eating add to hypertensive problems. Smoking can raise high blood pressure. Giving up smoking reduces the risk of hypertension, heart conditions and other health issues. A healthy balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruit and vegetables and low-fat dairy products can lower your blood pressure and reduce the risk of hypertension-related complications.
If your blood pressure readings are consistently higher than 130 over 80, you may require medication to control it. Possible medication includes diuretics, beta-blockers and alpha-blockers, calcium-channel blockers, central agonists, vasodilators and peripheral adrenergic inhibitors. The choice of drug prescribed depends on your doctor’s assessment of what would benefit you most, given your general health and any other conditions you may have.
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The information in this article is provided as a public service by the Cimas iGo wellness programme, which is designed to promote good health. it is provided for general information only and should not be construed as medical advice. Readers should consult their doctor or clinic on any matter related to their health or the treatment of any health problem. — igo@cimas. co.zw or whatsapp 0772 161 829 or phone 024-2773 0663