High Blood Pressure Is A Very Dangerous Condition For Which There Is Normally A Simple Answer

In the last few years alterations to the diet and lifestyle in most western societies have led to an increase in the number of individuals suffering from high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (which is otherwise known as hypertension, or more correctly arterial hypertension) is a serious condition that seldom has any symptoms and that, if left undetected and untreated, can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which represents a serious life-threatening condition.

So just what is hypertension and precisely what causes it?

The arteries of the body are constantly filled with blood which provides a normal 'background' pressure against the walls of the arteries. When the heart pumps newly oxygenated blood around your body it pushes this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure exerted on the walls of the arteries with each heartbeat. These two pressures are referred to as the systolic pressure (the higher pumping pressure of the heart) and the diastolic pressure (the lower 'background' pressure).

Normal blood pressure varies from individual to individual but, generally, systolic pressure ought to be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure should be around 80 mm Hg. This is ordinarily written as a blood pressure of 120/80.

If your blood pressure starts to rise and then stays at a level above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, although this is not in itself serious, it is a sign that you may be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems linked with it. As soon as your blood pressure rises to, and remains at, a level of 140/90 or above then you are suffering from hypertension and steps should be taken to lower your blood pressure.

So just what causes your blood pressure to rise and remain elevated?

Well, there are a number of factors involved here and to start there is a group over which you have little, if any, control. This group includes a low birth weight, several genetic factors, certain forms of diabetes (particularly type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age the arteries have a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, producing a reduced cross-sectional area for the blood to flow through).

The next group of factors is much more within your control and includes a sedentary lifestyle, high levels of salt and saturated fats in your diet, being overweight, smoking tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and working in certain occupations like flying or motorway maintenance.

Most of these factors are of course treatable and, in most cases, a simple adjustment to your eating habits and the addition of some exercise into your daily plan is all that is needed to cure the problem. The difficulty however is that, without any real symptoms, most people do not know that they have hypertension to start with.

So how do you solve the problem?

Thankfully the answer to this particular question is fairly simple. All you have to do is to pop into your doctor's office on a regular basis (for most of us a couple of times a year will do the trick) and ask him/her to check your blood pressure for you. The procedure is pain free, simple and quick and will give you peace of mind and might save your doctor a lot of time, work and expense down the road when you are forced to call in at his office once high blood pressure rears its ugly head.

If you are not so keen on calling in to see your doctor then an excellent alternative nowadays is to simply monitor your own blood pressure at home. A wide range of simple to operate and relatively inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available nowadays, allowing you to maintain a check on your health, as well as the health of of your whole family, in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

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High Blood Pressure Is A Very Dangerous Condition For Which There Is Normally A Simple Answer

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