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High Blood Pressure Can Be A Dangerous Condition For Which There Is Often Simple Answer
Over the past few years alterations to the diet and lifestyle in the majority of western societies have produced a rise in the number of individuals with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure (which is otherwise called hypertension, or more properly arterial hypertension) can be a dangerous condition which seldom shows any symptoms and which, if not detected and treated, can cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which represents a life-threatening condition.
So just what is high blood pressure and exactly what causes it?
The arteries within your body are constantly filled with blood which produces a normal 'background' pressure against the walls of the arteries. When the heart pumps newly oxygenated blood around the body it forces this blood into the arteries which briefly raises the pressure exerted on the artery walls with each beat of the heart. These two pressures are called the systolic pressure (the higher pressure as the heart is pumping) and the diastolic pressure (the lower 'background' pressure).
Normal blood pressure varies from one individual to the next but, in general, systolic pressure ought to be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure ought to be in the region of 80 mm Hg. This is frequently expressed as a blood pressure of 120/80.
If your blood pressure begins to rise and remains at a level above 120/80 then you are said to be 'prehypertensive' and, while this is not in itself serious, it is an indication that you may be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems which are associated with it. If your blood pressure reaches, and stays at, a level of 140/90 or above then you are said to be suffering from hypertension and steps ought to be taken to reduce your blood pressure.
But just what makes you blood pressure rise and stay elevated?
Well, there are various factors at play here and to start there is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group of factors includes low weight at birth, a variety of genetic factors, certain types of diabetes (especially type 2 diabetes) and your age (as we grow older our arteries tend to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, creating a smaller cross-sectional area through which the blood can flow).
The next group of factors is much more controllable and includes leading a sedentary lifestyle, high quantities of salt and saturated fats in the diet, being overweight, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress and employment in certain occupations like flying or motorway maintenance.
The vast majority of these factors are of course treatable and, in most cases, a simple adjustment to your diet and the addition of a bit of exercise into your daily routine is all that is necessary to solve the problem. The difficulty however is that, without any real symptoms, the vast majority of individuals are not aware that they are suffering from hypertension to start with.
So how can you go about curing the problem?
Fortunately the answer to this question is very simple. All you have to do is to drop by your physician's office on a regular basis (for most of us a couple of times a year should be sufficient) and ask him/her to check your blood pressure for you. The process is pain free, easy and quick and will provide you with peace of mind and possibly save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense later on when you are forced to visit his office once high blood pressure rears its ugly head.
If you are not all that keen on visiting your doctor then a very good alternative today is to simply monitor your own blood pressure. A large selection of simple to operate and quite inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available nowadays, allowing you to keep an eye on your own health, as well as that of your whole family, in the privacy and comfort of your own home.
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