Balancing Blood Pressure Naturally

Understanding blood pressure:

What it is and why it matters.

Blood pressure is the force of blood against the wall of your arteries when your heart pumps blood through your body. It's a way to measure cardiovascular health, and it's usually given by two numbers: systolic and diastolic. Systolic is the higher number, measuring pressure when the heart beats. The diastolic pressure is the resting pressure of the heart between beats, and it is the lower number. Put together, both numbers give an indication of your heart workload. This is normally considered to be about 120/80 mmHg for normal blood pressure.

Blood pressure can change in the course of a day, depending on physical activities engaged in, stress, or even types of food consumed. One high reading does not necessarily mean a problem, but very high or very low readings can be. If it continues to remain high over some period of time, it is known as hypertension. On the other end of the scale, if the blood pressure becomes too low, a person may feel dizzy and even faint. Your blood pressure needs to be checked so that problems can be detected early. Knowing Your Numbers Knowing your numbers can help you take better care of your overall health.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is commonly termed the "silent killer" due to symptoms usually being very well concealed in most cases. Unchecked, high blood pressure could further result in kidney and heart disease, in addition to stroke. Very minimal signs can often come apparent; some may include fatigue, headache, and at times difficulty in breathing. Those with risks or those who have reached 40 years of age should have regular check-ups. Treatment instituted early is the only way health complications due to hypertension can be avoided from getting severe.

There are two types of hypertension: primary and secondary. Primary hypertension develops over time with no recognizable rhyme or reason, whereas secondary hypertension results from another identifiable condition, mostly kidney disease and sleep apnea. Many times, regulation of the underlying condition can eventually control the blood pressure. Treatments can be with lifestyle modifications, medication, or both-depending on the severity.

Two issues that raise this risk are: High blood pressure rises with age and is influenced considerably by lifestyle. Undesirable food intakes, absence of exercise practices, smoking habits, and increased intake of alcohol are some major predisposing factors to the development of hypertension. For instance, excessive consumption of salt through the food will develop more amounts in the human body due to extreme liquid retention and hence result blood pressure level of arteries will increase. However nutritionally right diet evades this disease/disorder and nutrition shall be a combine of fruits, vegetable and whole grain food which may help in keeping blood pressure levels normal. Food enriched with potassium with reduced sodium level helps to maintain normal blood pressure level. Physical activity strengthens the heart, hence a heart is capable of pumping efficiently.

Diabetes is another health condition that might lead to developing high blood pressure. There are a lot of common risk factors in both, like obesity and malnutrition. For a diabetic patient, maintenance of blood sugar is as important as blood pressure. Ignored diabetes can affect the wall of the blood vessels and thereby increase the blood pressure. Diabetic patients for their part should have quite frequent blood sugar and blood pressure checking. A well-managed approach towards the two conditions can bring down the risks of the complications by huge margins.

It replaces a healthy lifestyle that can always help in bringing down the blood pressure and keeping it within normal limits. Various forms of regular exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, or cycling, do work in lowering down blood pressure systolic. In fact, it is established through various research and studies that even modest reductions in body weight are recorded to be associated with impressive improvements in BP control. Stress reduction: use techniques like meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. Disturbed sleep pattern raises blood pressure and good sleep is a prime necessity. This too forms part of the package in the comprehensive heart protection package.

Lifestyle changes are, of course, the first step toward restoration of health. However they may not help if the condition of high blood pressure is acute; hence this condition requires drugs. There are a number of medications for treating blood pressure. Each class works through a different mechanism in lowering the blood pressure. While the diuretics help the body get rid of excess sodium and water, ACE inhibitors relax the blood vessels. Beta-blockers reduce workload on the heart, and calcium channel blockers widen or dilate the blood vessels. All are with their ideal indications based on needs and case histories.

All people should get a blood pressure check every now and then, especially those people that have risk factors that predispose them to hypertension. Those are those individuals who, based on family medical history, may be overweight, smoke excessively, and drink more. When somebody feels very fit, he might still be having high blood pressure; hence, the need to get checked. Others like being informed more often, and for this purpose, there are blood pressure machines for one's homes and places of residence, but again, it always pays to trust health professionals who will not only give one more detailed information but also instead of the limited knowledge that a person would have regarding such matters. After all, it is always easier to stay well the earlier one knows of a complication.

Taker lesser sodium to maintain good blood pressure. A person should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium a day, although most people far exceed this. High intake of sodium leads to the retention of water by the body. This results in an increase in blood volume. The more the volume of blood, the more it tends to push on the walls of the arteries due to which blood pressure rises. Too much salt is introduced into the body mainly through the intake of processed foods, canned food items like soups, snacks, etcetera that contain high salts. Sodium is reduced by reverting to fresh and wholesome food and then doing one's cooking at home.

One more very important and equally forgotten role has been that of blood control. Potassium balances the amount of sodium in cells, hence balancing the balance in blood pressure. Good food sources for potassium include bananas, oranges, spinach, potatoes, and tomatoes. Risk can be radically reduced simply by increasing more potassium and lowering intakes of salt, or sodium. However, individuals with kidney problems must take great caution when it comes to intake of potassium. Medical or other professional management regarding dietary potassium is best handled through a physician or other health professional

The second major component to affect blood pressure is that of stress. More precisely, chronic stress increases the blood pressure of an individual. This is in the sense that, during stress, a hormone in the body, known as adrenaline, starts the "flight-or-fight" reaction of the human body, which transiently raises blood pressure. If the stress lingers above normal fluctuations, then high blood pressure becomes the norm. Automatically, good management of stress equates to good management of one's blood pressure. For example, the amount of stress a person goes through can be controlled by mindful activities, breathing, and exercising. A person is also supposed to get enough rest and, if possible, avoid stressful conditions.

The greatest challenge in monitoring blood pressure is a kind of barrier known as "white coat syndrome." It merely refers to an increase in blood pressure originating from the clinic or hospital visit caused by anxiety brought about by the pending examination. Some people get so nervous when going to the doctor that their blood pressure goes up, a condition known as white coat hypertension, in which an accurate blood pressure reading cannot be taken in the doctor's office. Because of this fact, many doctors will request that multiple readings be taken in the home environment or obtain ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. These fluctuations in blood pressure have to be considered regarding diagnosis of hypertension. Home readings might be more valid as an average blood pressure level.

Weight status is undoubtedly one of the highly contributing factors towards maintaining blood pressure. Overweight and obese persons put extra workload on the heart and arteries along with raising the blood pressure. A minor reduction in weight can bring down blood pressure significantly. Other major variables of weight management are routine physical activity and healthy nutrition. For most people, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight reduces the amount of medicine. It is a lifestyle modification that will enable a person to remain heart-healthy for all of one's life.

As far as the people with high blood pressure are concerned, their blood pressure may not come down to the normal range merely by changing lifestyles. There are types of medicines, though prescribed by doctors, which help keep such a state at bay. They could be drugs that dilate the blood vessels, lessen the workload of the heart, or get rid of excessive sodium from the body. Take the medications as prescribed, following up regularly with your doctor as he follows through on your condition. Besides the administration of drugs, lifestyle modification can reduce the complications arising out of the condition considerably. A patient is able to control the high blood pressure by...