What Is Hypertension And How To Get It Under Control
You had never felt ill, but still, you have hypertension because it is a silent killer; as for most patients, it does not cause any particular symptoms, keeping you unaware of your condition. However, it continuously damages your organs, and you will only know about it when a doctor diagnoses it. But do you know what hypertension is exactly? What are the risk factors, and what causes them? How can you get it under control? Don’t worry because we will explain everything about hypertension to help you know it better and easily deal with it.
Ready?
What is Hypertension?
Our body contains specific kinds of blood vessels known as arteries, responsible for carrying blood all over the body. The force exerted by the blood against arteries is known as blood pressure. You have hypertension when you have a systolic reading higher than 130-139, while a diastolic reading is over 80-89, together with some stresses to the body. A one-time higher blood pressure count on your BP machine is not dangerous; however, the continuous higher reading is not healthy for your body. This can cause multiple health issues which may lead to death.
Are You at Risk of Developing Hypertension?
Though hypertension can be developed with age because of narrowing arteries, multiple other risk factors lead you to this disease even if you are younger. You will have higher risks of developing hypertension if:
● You have a higher BMI (body mass index) because overweight people require more blood to be supplied to different body parts, thus applying more pressure on arteries.
● You have a family member who is a patient of hypertension because it is a hereditary disease that runs in families.
● You are not physically active or spend more time sitting. People with sedentary lifestyles tend to have higher heart rates. Higher heart rates may lead to hypertension as the heart needs to put more effort into supplying blood to the body.
● You use more salt in your routine diet, as the sodium in it causes your body to retain more fluid that causes more blood volume and ultimately higher pressure on the arteries.
● Stress is one of the major causes of a person developing hypertension. A stressed person has elevated heart rate levels responsible for putting more than normal pressure on the arteries, raising the blood pressure. Apart from this, stress can lead you to develop unhealthy habits like overeating and smoking.
How to Get Hypertension under Control?
If you are looking for natural control of hypertension, we have some awesome tips for you to get hypertension under control. Some of the factors are not in your control, including your age, race, and inheritance, however many factors could be controlled.
Try To Lose Weight
Weight loss is one of the best solutions to overcome hypertension, as it is one of the common causes. The more your body weight, the more pressure is exerted on your blood vessels, thus making your blood pressure high. According to an estimate, each kilogram you lose leads to a 1 mm decrease in blood pressure. That is why managing your weight on a healthy BMI level would be helpful for your overall health and to getting rid of high blood pressure.
Skip the Sedentary Lifestyle
Most people have workplaces where sitting is the only mode of work, mostly when you have to tackle files and work on a computer screen. Such people tend to have high blood pressure issues because of the continuous sitting periods causing high heart rates. Adding a thirty-minute walk or another exercise to your everyday life is essential to reduce your blood pressure by almost 5 to 6 points, which is a huge change that can lower blood pressure.
Add Health to Your Diet
The foods you eat make or destroy your health. Fill your diet with nutritious foods to add healthy nutrients to your bloodstream. You must not eat foods that only fill your stomach but do not add anything to your health. Junk food is commonly used by most people almost every day, denying the fact of its unhealthiness. It is one of those foods that add extra calories to your diet without any beneficial constituents. You must add fibers, fruits, whole grains, and vegetables to your routine diet because they help control hypertension directly and indirectly by controlling your weight.
Do Not Smoke
Cigarettes raise your heart rate. An increased heart rate requires an extra effort by your heart in pumping the blood through the blood vessels to keep a supply of food and energy throughout the body. Therefore, quitting smoking would be helpful for your heart’s health. A healthy heart would maintain normal levels of blood pressure. Normal blood pressure is systolic of 120 or below and diastolic of 70 or below.
So What Should Be Done?
Hypertension is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide every year, killing thousands. Though it is initially not a deadly disease, if you do not seek the medical help you need, you could end up with stroke, heart attack, or kidney failure. The important this is the diagnosis of hypertension, which is easy through a regular check-up. Controlling blood pressure requires significant effort from you. Some changes to lifestyle and taking medicines on time can help you deal with hypertension. You can also find help from a PCP in Sugar Land and Houston to get immediate help in an emergency with hypertension.