What is High Blood Pressure?

High Blood Pressure is also known as hypertension. Your heart is responsible for circulating blood throughout your body. It is the constant pumping action of the heart that keeps the blood moving. Simply put high blood pressure means that your heart has to pump harder than it should to circulate blood through the body.

What are the numbers in my blood pressure?

The top number in your blood pressure is the systolic pressure. This is a measurement of pressure of your heart while it is contracting.

The bottom number in your blood pressure is the diastolic pressure. This is a measurement of the pressure of the heart between beats, or when it is at rest.

What contributes to High Blood Pressure?

There are many factors that may lead to high blood pressure; certainly genetics (heredity) is one of them.

Other factors to consider are:

• Being Overweight
• High salt intake
• Excessive use of alcohol
• Sedentary lifestyle (lack of exercise)
• Smoking
• Stress

What is the result of High Blood Pressure?

High Blood Pressure increases your chance of many serious, life-endangering diseases. Among these are heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and vision problems.

Should I take medication?

Only your doctor can decide if your blood pressure requires medication. You should never try to self diagnose or self medicate such a serious condition. If your doctor does prescribe medication, be sure to take it and follow his/her directions religiously.

Medication for lowering your blood pressure should be used with a healthy diet and physical activity. You should not look at your medication as a replacement for a healthy lifestyle, but rather a tool to be used in conjunction with life style changes.

Do not stop taking medication without consulting with your physician. Controlling High Blood Pressure requires a maintenance program that must be followed. There is no one-time solution.

How Do I Lower or Prevent High Blood Pressure?

In some ways this is very easy since there are specific things you can do to control your blood pressure. In other ways it is very difficult because the specific things required are not, in themselves, easy to do. But when we realize how important blood pressure is, they become a little easier to deal with.

• Lose weight if you are overweight. No fad diets. No starvation. Eat less fat and calories and eat smaller portions.

• Limit your intake of salt. Try not to add salt to your food. There are many herbs and spices that can add flavor without adding the salt. Canned fruits and vegetables often contain high salt content. Try fresh instead. Try to avoid foods with more than 140mg of salt per serving.

• Limit your alcohol intake to 2 oz. of alcohol, 12oz. of beer, or 6 oz. of wine per day.

• Stop smoking.

• Make time for relaxation. Eliminate things that cause you stress.

• Increase the amount of daily exercise you get.

Use this table as a general rule of thumb, but in all cases talk to your physician and carefully follow his or her advice.

	Systolic	Diastolic
Normal	Under 130	Under 85
High normal	130-139	85-89
Mild hypertension	140-159	90-99
Moderate hypertension	160-179	100-109
Severe hypertension	180-209	110-119
Very severe	over 210	over 120

As with all medical advice it is important to TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN about your specific circumstances. This information is printed as a general guideline and should not be used in place of proper medical care and attention.