Hypertension Is A Very Dangerous Problem For Which There Is Normally A Simple Solution

In recent years alterations to the diet and lifestyle in the majority of western societies have resulted in an increase in the number of people suffering from high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (otherwise known as hypertension, or more accurately arterial hypertension) can be a serious condition which seldom carries any symptoms and which, if left undetected and untreated, can cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which is a serious life-threatening condition.

So just what is high blood pressure and exactly what causes it?

The arteries within your body are constantly filled with blood that produces a normal 'background' pressure on the artery walls. When your heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood around the body it forces this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure on the walls of the arteries with every 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 one individual to the next but, on average, systolic pressure should be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure ought to be about 80 mm Hg. This is usually written as a pressure of 120/80.

If your blood pressure begins to rise and remains at a level above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, although this is not serious in itself, it is a sign that you could be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems linked with it. As soon as your blood pressure rises to, and remains at, a level of 140/90 or above you are suffering from hypertension and steps should be taken to lower your blood pressure.

But just what causes your blood pressure to rise and than remain elevated?

Well, there are various factors at play here and to start there is a group over which you have little, if any, control. This group of factors includes low birth weight, a variety of genetic factors, some forms of diabetes (in particular type 2 diabetes) and your age (as we grow older our arteries display a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, resulting in a smaller cross-sectional area for the blood to flow through).

The next group of factors is much more controllable and includes leading a sedentary lifestyle, high levels of salt and saturated fats in your diet, excess weight, smoking tobacco, alcohol abuse, stress and employment in specific occupations like flying or motorway maintenance.

The majority of these factors are of course treatable and, in many cases, a quite simple adjustment to your diet and the addition of a little exercise into your daily diary is all that is necessary to reverse the problem. The difficulty however is that, with few, or no, symptoms, the majority of people do not know that they are suffering from hypertension in the first place.

So how do you go about curing the problem?

Luckily the answer to this question is fairly simple. All you have to do is to call in at your physician's office on a regular basis (for most of us a couple of times a year should be sufficient) and ask him/her to check your blood pressure for you. The whole process is painless, easy and fast and will provide you with peace of mind and could save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense down the road when you are forced to call in at his office once high blood pressure has set in.

If you are not all that keen on calling in to see your doctor then an excellent alternative today is to check your own blood pressure. A large selection of easy to operate and reasonably inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available now, allowing you to maintain a check on your health, and the health of of your whole family, in the privacy and comfort of your own home.

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