The pressure exerted by the blood on the arteries as it is pumped through the blood vessels in called
blood pressure. If your blood pressure reading shows 140/90 mmHg or higher, you have high blood pressure or hypertension. The normal blood pressure of a healthy adult should be lower than 120/80 mmHg. If blood pressure is high, the heart pumps the blood harder, which in turn leaves the arteries hardened resulting in atherosclerosis.
It is estimated that one in every three American adults suffer from high blood pressure and many a time this condition lasts a lifetime. High blood pressure is normally referred to as silent killer as it escapes early detection for want of any notable symptoms. Many a people do not even know that they already have high blood pressure. So, play safe by consulting the doctor regularly to make sure that you do not have
high blood pressure. Once set in blood pressure do not have any treatment for complete cure; however there are excellent medications for keeping hypertension under control. If left untreated it might result in small clots in the arteries of legs or intestines, which might result in heart attacks or stroke. High blood pressure might exert an undue stress on the heart and brain resulting in many serious disease conditions.
The blood pressure is measured by using a sphygmomanometer and one end of the stethoscope is placed over an artery to record the readings. The pressure at which the first pulse sound can be heard is called systolic blood pressure and the pressure level where the sound disappears is the diastolic pressure and is expressed in millimetre of mercury (mm Hg).
High blood pressure and excess body weight are closely related. So, weight management is the most important phase in the treatment of your
high blood pressure. Requisite dietary changes coupled with a well planned work out might help you to keep hypertension under check.
In some people high blood pressure could be triggered by another disease then it is called secondary hypertension, which gets back to normal once the root cause is solved. Some of the causes for secondary hypertension include tumours, kidney ailments, narrowing of the aorta, pregnancy etc.
While in the majority of cases no particular reason could be attributed to
high blood pressure and it is often referred to as primary hypertension. Hypertension is normally associated with old age as the arteries get hardened with age and in some cases it shows a hereditary history as well. In people suffering from salt sensitivity, the blood pressure shoots up with the usage of salt. Such patients should desist from eating fast foods and deep fried salty items and if you take care to avoid high sodium food sources, the blood pressure could be managed easily.
Alcohol consumption is yet another cause of
heart disease and also for high blood pressure; make sure that you do not consume more than two drinks a day to steer clear of this risk. People with high blood pressure should take immediate medical aid to control it in time.
