| Blood is carried around your body by the arteries. When the heart beats, it pushes blood through the arteries. In people who have healthy arteries, the blood flows through the arteries with insignificant resistance. But in a person whose arteries have become narrow, the arteries prevent the blood from flowing through them. The heart has to work much harder to get the blood where it needs to go, and this is how hypertension occurs. Hypertension places a strain on your heart and brings on damage to the blood vessels. This raises your risk for stroke, heart attack, heart disease and kidney failure. Hypertension is very often called the "silent killer", since plenty of men and women are not even aware they have it. This is because most people with high blood pressure have no symptoms.Two measurements make up blood pressure. The first one is called systolic, and indicates the peak blood pressure when your heart is sending blood out into the arteries. The second figure is known as diastolic, which is the pressure when your heart is relaxing between beats. When you blood pressure is taken, the systolic pressure is measured first, and the diastolic pressure is measured second.Blood pressure in healthy grownups is 120/80 or lower. Hypertension is a reading 140/90 or higher.Physicians strictly recommend that all adults aged 18 and older be examined for high blood pressure. If you have hypertension, here are some tips to help you reduce it.• Stop smoking. Nicotine makes your blood vessels narrower and your heart beat quicker, which increases your blood pressure.• Lose extra pounds if you are overweight.• Be more active. Exercise at a moderate intensity for half an hour, 5 or more days a week.• Go on a well-balanced diet rich in vitamins and low in saturated fat.• Limit your sodium and alcohol intake.If life-style alterations alone do not lower your blood pressure, your physician may moreover prescribe antihypertensive medicines to treat your high blood pressure. But remember: even if you must take drugs, making some of the recommended lifestyle alterations can help reduce the amount of drugs you take. |
