Understanding Blood Pressure

15 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by hiperactive in Health Tips Tags: Blood pressure, heart health, understanding blood pressure

Now if you are anything like me, a trip to the doctors to have your blood pressure taken can leave you feeling baffled. You are left relying on the smile or frown of the doctor to know if you’re doing well or not. But what is blood pressure, what does it mean to you if you have high blood pressure, and what is the best way to reduce your blood pressure? In this article I hope to answer some of those questions and help you with understanding blood pressure.

What is Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the term used to explain how hard your blood is pushing against the sides of your arteries, or blood vessels as it travels around your body. Doctors and other health professionals use numbers to help us understand this, an example is 120/80mmHg, the first number refers to the systolic pressure – which is when your body is pushing the blood around your body, the second number relates to the diastolic pressure – which is the pressure when your heart is relaxed.  A healthy blood pressure is 120/80mmHg or less, you are considered to have high blood pressure if your reading are 140/90mmHg consistently.

What does High Blood Pressure do?

You can be suffering from high blood pressure for years before any symptoms show, but that doesn’t mean that the damage isn’t happening to your body in the mean time. High Blood pressure narrows your arteries, making it harder for the heart to push your blood through your body, which can in turn, cause damage to your major organs like your lungs, liver, stomach, kidneys, etc.

High Blood Pressure is also one of the main contributing factors for conditions like strokes, heart attacks, and kidney disease as well as conditions like vascular dementia. Studies have been performed and the staggering statistic of approx 62,000 unnecessary deaths from strokes and heart attacks are caused by high blood pressure.

If those statistics are worrying you, and to be honest – they would worry most people, then you can make an appointment to see your nurse or doctor to get yourself checked up. You can also go to many pharmacies who will offer blood pressure checks. Periodically, the blood pressure association, a charity that is keen to raise the awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure, run a “know your numbers” event across the UK, during these events they set up Pressure Stations across the UK for people to “drop in” and get their blood pressure checked at their convenience - so in a lunch break for instance. For more information on “know your numbers” events in your area, check the Blood Pressure Association website.

Who is most vulnerable to High Blood Pressure?

Unsurprisingly, as you grow older, your chances of developing High Blood Pressure increase – but however old you are there are ways to bring your blood pressure down. Those most vulnerable to high blood pressure are those who follow an unhealthy lifestyle, so smokers, those who drink heavily, or who eat unhealthy or don’t exercise.  High blood pressure can also be brought on by stress (caused  by many things, from work, to moving home,  or getting married), and pregnancy.

What can I do if I have been told I have high blood pressure?

The first thing is not to worry, as fretting will just run the risk of increasing your blood pressure further.  Treatment  for high blood pressure is now very successful.  If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure somewhere other than your doctors, your first task is to have the diagnosis confirmed by your family GP. If they agree that you have blood pressure high enough to warrant treatment with medication they will then talk you through the various options as there are many varieties of tablets now available.

By taking these tablets alongside the development of a healthier lifestyle, which again, your doctor will discuss with you, you have every chance of living a longer and healthier life. Your GP may also decide that although your blood pressure is high, it isn’t high enough for medication and then will discuss with you the various lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your blood pressure to a more acceptable level.

How can I reduce my blood pressure myself?

One of the fastest, and simplest ways to reduce your blood pressure is to reduce your salt intake – if you are one of those people like me, who simply can not give up their salt, you can try one of the low-salt products that are available from most supermarkets and will also help reduce your blood pressure. The recommended daily amount for salt is 6g a day, which is approximately one teaspoons worth. When you eat salt, it makes your body retain water, and if you eat more than the recommend amount the extra water will be stored in your body, and will raise your blood pressure.

If you stop adding salt to your cooking or at the table, it will reduce the amount of water that your body retains, but the majority of salt in our daily diets are actually “hidden” in prepared foods such as bread, cereals, and ready meals, so make sure you read the food labels to be sure you are avoiding as much of the hidden salt as possible.

If you simply can’t do without your salt, and you don’t like the low-salt products, another way to help counter the effect of eating salt is to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables as these contain potassium, fruits like banana’s are particularly high in potassium.

Alcohol also raises your blood pressure, so cutting back on your weekly tipple will also help lower your blood pressure as well as other health benefits. Alcohol is fairly heavy on the calories so, over time, it will increase your weight, which in turn can also increase your blood pressure as your heart has to work harder to get the blood through to where it is needed. The Government recommend no more than 28 units of alcohol a week for men, and 21 units a week for woman.

Moderate exercise is also good for blood pressure as it makes your heart work harder – particularly exercise like walking, swimming. Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 5 times a week can give you many health benefits including making your arteries more flexible.

If you would like more information on how you can take control of your blood pressure, please contact the Blood Pressure Association via their website.