Hypertension Can Be An Extremely Dangerous Condition For Which There Is Normally Simple Answer
In recent years changes in lifestyle and diet in most western societies have produced an increase in the number of individuals with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure (which is otherwise known as hypertension, or more accurately arterial hypertension) is a dangerous condition which rarely 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 life-threatening condition.
So precisely what is high blood pressure and exactly what causes it?
The arteries of the body are continuously filled with blood which provides a normal 'background' pressure against the walls of the arteries. As the heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood around your body it pushes this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure exerted on the artery walls with each heartbeat. These two pressures are called the systolic pressure (the higher pumping pressure of the heart) and the diastolic pressure (the lesser 'background' pressure).
Normal blood pressure varies from person to person but, generally, systolic pressure ought to be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure should be around 80 mm Hg. This is generally shown as a pressure of 120/80.
When your blood pressure starts to rise and remains at a level above 120/80 then you are said to be 'prehypertensive' and, despite the fact that this is not in itself serious, it is an indication that you could be at risk of developing hypertension and the problems which are associated with it. Once your blood pressure reaches, and remains at, a level of 140/90 or higher then you are suffering from hypertension and steps ought to be taken to lower your blood pressure.
So just what causes your blood pressure to rise and remain at a high level?
Well, there are a variety of factors involved here and to begin there is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group of factors includes low birth weight, various genetic factors, some types of diabetes (in particular type 2 diabetes) and your age (as we grow older our arteries have a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, producing a reduced cross-sectional area through which the blood can flow).
The second group of factors is much more within your control and includes a sedentary lifestyle, high quantities of salt and saturated fats in the diet, excess weight, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress and employment in certain occupations like motorway maintenance or flying.
The majority of these factors are treatable and, in many cases, a quite simple adjustment to your diet and the addition of some exercise into your daily diary is all that is necessary to reverse the problem. However, the difficulty is that, without any real symptoms, the majority of people do not know that they are suffering from hypertension in the first place.
So how can you cure the problem?
Fortunately the answer to this particular question is very simple. All you need to do is to pop into your doctor's office regularly (for most of us a couple of times a year will do the trick) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure. The process is painless, simple and quick and will provide you with peace of mind and could save your doctor a lot of time, work and expense later on when you are forced to drop by his office once hypertension arrives.
If you are not too keen on visiting your doctor then a very good alternative today is to check your own blood pressure. A large selection of easy to operate and quite inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available today, allowing you to keep an eye on your own health, and that of your complete family, in the privacy and comfort of your own home.
