body, and this is known as the late or advanced stage.
Some people with high blood pressure report headaches (particularly at the back of the head and in the morning), as well as lightheadedness, vertigo (a feeling of the room spinning around you), tinnitus (buzzing or hissing in the ears), altered vision or fainting episodes. These symptoms, however, might be related to associated anxiety rather than the high blood pressure itself.
Most cases of hypertension are usually diagnosed in the doctor’s office, during a routine blood pressure check when you visit the hospital for usually an unrelated disease.
Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels. You can think of the blood vessels as ‘pipes with water’ and the heart as a ‘pump’. The heart generates the pressure that moves the blood through the blood vessels. For blood to flow, the heart must overcome the pressure in the blood vessels.
Blood pressure is usually measured at a person's upper arm. Blood pressure is usually expressed in terms of the systolic (maximum) pressure over diastolic (minimum) pressure and is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The ‘normal’ blood pressure is less than or equal to 120/80mmHg. The ‘120’ represents systolic and ‘80’ represents diastolic values.
The blood pressure value to make a diagnosis of hypertension has been put at 140/90mmHg.
To measure your systolic blood pressure, your healthcare provider will usually use a device called a sphygmomanometer cuff.
Exercise increases blood pressure temporarily therefore you should rest adequately, before taking the blood pressure reading. Exercise here also includes going from your home to the doctor’s office without having to wait outside for some time.
Why does blood pressure increase?
For pressure to increase in a tube, the volume of fluid flowing through the tube either increases, or the tube diameter gets narrower. The same thing occurs in the body. The blood vessels get narrow when fats accumulate and try to block them or they get hard and lose elasticity. Other factors like fluid retention, due to some diseases also increase blood pressure. Aging also increases blood pressure.
High blood pressure is classified as either primary (essential) high blood pressure or secondary high blood pressure.
About 90–95% of cases are primary, defined as high blood pressure due to nonspecific lifestyle and genetic factors. Lifestyle factors that increase the risk include:
· Excess salt,
· Excess body weight,
· Smoking,
· And alcohol.
The remaining 5–10% of cases is categorized as secondary high blood pressure, defined as high blood pressure due to an identifiable cause, such as:
· Chronic kidney disease,
· Narrowing of the kidney arteries,
· Hormonal disorders,
· The use of birth control pills.
Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysms (swelling of the arteries), and is the leading cause of chronic kidney failure.
Even moderate elevation of arterial pressure leads to shortened life expectancy. At severely high pressures, mean arterial pressures 50% or more above average, a person can expect to live no more than a few years unless appropriately treated.
Effective lifestyle modification may lower blood pressure as much as an individual antihypertensive drug. Combinations of two or more lifestyle modifications can achieve even better results. The following have been recommended:
- maintain normal body weight for adults (e.g. body mass index of 20–25 kg/m2)
- reduce dietary sodium intake
- engage in regular aerobic physical activity such as brisk walking (≥30 min per day, most days of the week)
- limit alcohol consumption to no more than 3 units/day in men and no more than 2 units/day in women
- Consume a diet rich in fruit and vegetables (e.g. at least five portions per day).
Body mass index (BMI) is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms (kg) by the square of your height in meters.
The natural salt in food accounts for about 10 percent of total intake, on average. The salt we add at the table or while cooking adds another 5 to 10 percent. About 75 percent of our total salt intake comes from salt added to processed foods by manufacturers and salt that cooks add to foods at restaurants and other food service establishments
The amount of salt in a food is listed as “sodium” on the Nutrition Facts label that appears on food packaging. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that the general population consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day (about a teaspoon of table salt). Most food labels shorten the word “milligrams” to “mg.” Dietary recommendations and food labels use sodium rather than salt since it is the sodium component of salt that is most relevant for human health
These guidelines are published every five years by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Units of alcohol in a drink can be determined by multiplying the volume of the drink (in milliliters) by its percentage alcohol by volume (ABV), which can be found one each bottle or can of drinks, and dividing by 1000.
Dietary changes shown to reduce blood pressure include diets with low sodium, the DASH diet, and vegetarian diets
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is a dietary pattern promoted by the U.S-based National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [part of the National Institutes of Health ("NIH"), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services] to prevent and control hypertension. The DASH diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods; includes meat, fish, poultry, nuts, and beans; and is limited in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, red meat, and added fats. In addition to its effect on blood pressure, it is designed to be a well-balanced approach to eating for the general public. DASH is recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") as one of its ideal eating plans for all Americans
Physical exercise regimens which are shown to reduce blood pressure include isometric resistance exercise (a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction) and aerobic exercise (examples of cardiovascular/aerobic exercise are medium to long distance running/jogging, swimming, cycling, and walking).
Stress reduction also helps reduce blood pressure.
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