"Your pressure is high ..."
If the doctor told you this, know that you are not alone. About 15 out of 100 adults have high blood pressure. There is a lot that can be done to keep your pressure under control. This text will give you several tips. But you need to know first that you can not ignore the fact that you have high blood pressure, because if left untreated it can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney problems.
What is hypertension?
If your pressure is above 140 by 90 mm Hg for a long time, you are probably hypertensive. To know if you are hypertensive you need to measure the pressure regularly, because there is no other way of knowing. Everyone should measure the pressure at least once a year, but if you have people in the family with high blood pressure, you need to measure your blood pressure more often. The person who does not treat high blood pressure is 7 times more likely to have a stroke than the person with normal pressure.
What do the pressure measures mean?
When the heart pumps blood, it contracts, and blood pressure in the arteries that occurs at this time is called systolic or maximal. When the heart relaxes between contractions, the pressure becomes smaller and is called diastolic or minimal.
What causes hypertension?
There is a type of hypertension, called secondary hypertension, that can be caused by physical problems, such as hormonal or renal disorders. The other type of high blood pressure is essential hypertension. In most cases the cause of high blood pressure is not known, but we know what can make it worse.
Risk factors
What can make hypertension worse is called a risk factor. There are several, such as:
Smoke;
Alcoholic beverage;
Excess of salt;
Obesity;
The way of acting and feeling;
Stress.
Symptoms
The doctor said that I am hypertensive, but I do not feel anything ...
In most cases, high blood pressure does not give symptoms or warnings and is only known to be altered by measuring the pressure. But sometimes the person feels headache, dizziness, ringing in the ear or chest pain. If you are feeling these symptoms, check your pressure.
Why can high blood pressure cause problems?
High blood pressure can cause damage to the artery walls and make them narrower. In this case, the heart has to work harder, it can dilate and can no longer play its role of pumping blood to the whole body. Clots can form on the walls of the arteries preventing blood from circulating. These fat clots are called cholesterol.
What if I do not treat high blood pressure?
When left untreated, hypertension can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney problems.
How to keep the pressure under control?
A good quality life, with good habits on a daily basis and without stress, helps a lot to keep the pressure under control, but sometimes the person needs medication.
What to do?
Do not forget to take the medication your doctor prescribed on a daily basis. This can save your life. The control of your pressure depends on your doctor and you working together. You have to participate! The most important thing is to take responsibility for your life and to follow a medical treatment or not suitable for you.
Try to control the risk factors that may increase the chance of a stroke or other serious problems occurring.
SMOKE : Nicotine from the cigarette contracts the arteries and for this causes the pressure to rise. Try to stop smoking because each cigarette is contributing to the heart work harder
ALCOHOLIC DRINK : Drink in moderation. Research shows that a glass of red wine a day helps maintain health. But do not overdo it, as alcohol increases the pressure.
EXCESS OF SALT : Some people retain a lot of liquid when they eat salt. This causes the heart to overwork to circulate all the fluid in the body. Learn to use other spices that enhance the taste of food.
OBESITY : One of the best ways to keep your pressure under control is to maintain normal weight to avoid the extra work the heart has to perform in cases of overweight and obesity.
STRESS : There are several studies showing that emotional stress, when left untreated, can cause peaks of pressure and keep it high. That is why it is important to learn how to deal with stress.
What is stress?
Stress is a reaction of the body that occurs when it has to deal with situations that require a great emotional effort to be overcome. The longer the situation lasts or the more severe it is, the more stressed the person can stay. However, there are ways you can learn to cope with stress so that, even in the worst of times, you can maintain your health. One is to understand what stress is and what causes it.
What causes stress?
Day-to-day difficulties, illness, unemployment, fights, accidents and major losses. Many changes in life, even for the better, when they occur too much together in time can have a total effect of producing stress.
There are also what we call internal sources of stress that can have an even greater effect on the body, such as thoughts, feelings and our typical way of reacting in certain situations.
How can the way you act and feel can give you stress?
Our research, among others, shows that a person's way of thinking affects his way of feeling and that way, on the other hand, influences his way of reacting to life. If you always think that life is unfair, you will feel unfair and will behave in a way that reflects this feeling.
If you think that the only way to be accepted is to be quiet, never demanding anything. If you feel you are competent to deal with the world, you will feel more secure and calmer to deal with people and life. When the person feels anger, for example, and expresses this feeling with great vigor, that is, explodes, their pressure can rise alarmingly. Therefore, it is better to learn to think healthier.
The typical way of thinking of each can function as a source of constant tension. It might even say "like a stress factory".
Very hurried, competitive people who do two or more things at the same time tend to have more stress.
How to control stress?
We suggest attention to four areas of life: food, exercise, relaxation and emotional aspects.
Anti-stress food : Must be rich in vegetables, vegetables and fruits. Avoid fat, chocolate, coffee, soft drinks, and salt.
Exercise : Consult your doctor before you start exercising. We suggest 30-minute walks at least 3 times a week
Relaxation : When we relax, our body and mind have the chance to get rid of the accumulated tensions, to prepare for new challenges. Every human being needs at least half an hour a day to relax and get out of trouble. There is no magic formula to relax. Some like music, others like chat, others like TV. What matters is that you get out of trouble for a few minutes.
Emotional stability : Try to think positively, seeing the good side of things. If something bothers you, try talking about it. If someone hurts you, talk to the person calmly about their feelings. If you focus on what you feel and not what she did wrong, she will not be able to hurt you further.
Being too competitive, wanting to do everything very fast and several things at the same time creates stress. Try to experience life a little more slowly, feeling the pleasure of each activity while you are involved in it.
Basic Reminder : The best way to keep your pressure under control is to have a good quality of life, in addition to taking the prescribed medicines. For this it is necessary to have good habits of daily life.