DISCLAIMER: THIS PAGE CONTAINS A GENERAL EDUCATIONAL DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE TOPIC. IT IS NOT HEALTH ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS SUCH. YOU SHOULD NEVER RELY UPON THE INFORMATION GIVEN HERE. YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES MAY WELL REQUIRE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT APPROACH. YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES IN YOUR MEDICATIONS, DIET, ACTIVITY, LIFESTYLE, ETC. WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING A LICENSED PHYSICIAN IN YOUR AREA.
High blood pressure is called the silent killer.This is because the overwhelming majority of people with it have no symptoms. Nevertheless, it results in strokes, heart failure, heart attacks and death. Even though doctors call it hypertension, it doesn't necessarily correspond with feeling tense. The only way to find out if you have it is to have your blood pressure checked. The top number (known as the systolic blood pressure) should be less than 140 most of the time while the bottom number (known as the diastolic blood pressure) should be less than 90 most of the time.
High blood pressure affects 50% of people aged 55 to 65 and the prevalence increases further with increasing age. The good news is that for most people it can be easily treated to reduce the chance of getting one of these dreaded complications.
Lifestyle modifications can lower blood pressure. Stopping smoking, physical activity, weight loss and avoidance of large amounts of alcohol are the first steps.
In many people, lowering the amount of salt (sodium chloride) in their diets will help. The best way to avoid salt is to not add salt to what you are eating or cooking. (Potassium salts can be use in place of sodium salts but you should check with your doctor to make sure it is safe for you to take potassium salts. Some diseases and medications raise the potassium levels in the body and using potassium salts in addition to that can raise the potassium level dangerously high).
Try to avoid foods that are particularly high in salt such as delicatessen, Chinese food, snack foods and certain canned and frozen foods. Some over the counter medications may also be high in sodium.
A high dietary intake of potassium, calcium and magnesium as well as protein, folic acid and fiber has also been shown to lower blood pressure. This can be achieved by eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, low-fat dairy foods, whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts. Minimizing food items such as fats (especially saturated fats), red meats, sweets and sugar containing beverages also seem to help lower blood pressure.
Many people will require medication in addition to the above lifestyle changes to bring their blood pressure down to safe levels. There are now a large number of effective and safe medications that your doctor can prescribe to accomplish that goal. See Blood Pressure Medications.
It is a good idea to monitor your blood pressure with a home monioring device that can be purchased at pharmacies. You should bring the device to your doctor's office to insure that is giving accurate reading compared to what your doctor gets. An up to date list of accurate monitirs is maintained at http://www.dableducational.com. One advantage of home montoring is that it may show that your blood pressure is normally lower than what yoour doctor gets. This phenomenon is called white coat hypertension.
When you check your blood pressure, you should be seated comfortably in a chair with a back. The upper arm with the cuff around it should be resting comfortablyon the arm of the chair at the level of the heart. It is important that the cuff size is correct. Too small of a cuff will give a falsely high blood pressure reading. You should check the blood pressure in both arms the first time you use the cuff and thereafter, use the arm that origiannly gave you the higher reading (it is not uncommon to have a difference of 10 points or even more between the two arms). Some patients may not be allowed to use one of their arms for blood pressure measurements. These may be patients with a dialysis fistula in an arm or who have had a mastectomy.
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