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In the last few years changes in lifestyle and diet in many western countries have resulted in a growth in the number of individuals suffering from high blood pressure.
High blood pressure (which is otherwise known as hypertension, or more correctly arterial hypertension) can be a dangerous condition that rarely has any symptoms and that, if not detected and treated, can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which is a life-threatening condition.
So exactly what is hypertension and just what causes it?
The arteries of the body are constantly filled with blood which produces a normal 'background' pressure on the walls of the arteries. When the heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood around your body it forces this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure on the walls of the arteries with each beat of the heart. These two pressures are referred to as the systolic pressure (the higher pressure as the heart is pumping) and the diastolic pressure (the reduced normal or 'background' pressure).
Normal blood pressure varies from person to person but, usually, systolic pressure ought to be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure ought to be around 80 mm Hg. This is ordinarily written as a pressure of 120/80.
If your blood pressure starts to rise and then stays above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, although this is not serious in itself, it is a sign that you might be at risk of developing hypertension and the problems associated with it. As soon as your blood pressure reaches, and stays at, a level of 140/90 or higher you are suffering from hypertension and steps ought to be taken to reduce your blood pressure.
So what makes you blood pressure rise and than 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 a low weight at birth, various genetic factors, some types of diabetes (in particular type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age the arteries display a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, producing a smaller 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, large levels of salt and saturated fats in the diet, excess weight, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and employment in specific occupations such as motorway maintenance or flying.
The majority of these factors are of course treatable and, in a lot of cases, a simple change in your eating habits and the addition of a bit of exercise into your daily routine is all that is needed to solve the problem. However, the difficulty is that, with few, or no, symptoms, the vast majority of people do not know that they are suffering from high blood pressure to start with.
So how can you go about curing the problem?
Luckily the answer to this particular question is very simple. All you have to do is to call in at your doctor's office regularly (about twice a year should do the trick) and ask him/her to check your blood pressure. The whole procedure is painless, easy and quick and will give you peace of mind and can save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense down the road when you are forced to call in at his office once hypertension has set in.
If you are not all that keen on visiting your doctor then a very good alternative today is to simply monitor your own blood pressure. A number of simple to operate and reasonably inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available nowadays, allowing you to maintain a check on your own health, and that of your whole family, in the privacy and comfort of your own home..
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