Hypertension

This is one of mankind's "modern"diseases. Due to health policies, the ranges of what has been considered normal and high have gotten more and more demanding.

Hypertension isn't called a silent killer for nothing. High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for developing coronary artery disease (CAD), the leading cause of death in the United States, and it's considered a significant risk for stroke, heart failure, and kidney failure. Most of the times, though, it doesn't give any symptom to the patient ( so they think they are OK ). Anyone with poorly treated hypertension at least doubles his or her risk of developing all of these conditions. And remember, the higher the blood pressure, the higher the danger.

Most of high blood pressure patients have got no apparent reason to have it elevated. This is called idiopathic hypertension and accounts for about 90 to 95% of the causes.

Other factors that contribute to hypertension are the following:

Salt intake: Population studies show that societies in which people consume large amounts of salt (such as the United States) have a correspondingly high incidence of high blood pressure . Similarly, in cultures where salt intake is low, the incidence of high blood pressure is extremely low. Other studies show that for most people with hypertension, restricting salt intake helps lower high blood pressure.

Inherited predisposition: Hypertension also appears to have a genetic component. Some people may be genetically predisposed to have high blood pressure. However, shared lifestyles can certainly contribute to keep the blood pressure elevated.

Doctors certainly know that lifestyle factors, such as obesity (and abdominal obesity, in particular), inactivity, cigarette smoking, and high alcohol consumption all are associated with increased risk of hypertension.

Secondary hypertension is the name for whenever blood pressure has got a known cause, meaning it's a secondary result of a separate primary condition. If the underlying condition can be treated and corrected, then secondary hypertension usually is corrected, too. Conditions known to cause secondary high blood pressure include:

• Narrowing of the arteries that supply the kidneys
• Other kidney diseases
• Abnormalities in the endocrine system, such as overactive adrenal glands
• Certain medications that can increase the risk of high blood pressure, such as oral contraceptives or estrogen replacement therapy following menopause

If you're diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor will explore any of these potential underlying causes for hypertension prior to making the diagnosis.

Although medical science may not know the exact mechanisms that cause essential hypertension, a number of conditions are strongly associated with increases in high blood pressure. Your doctor might look for these factors in order to lower blood pressure. For many people, controlling these conditions actually returns their blood pressure to normal levels. these factors are as follows:

Obesity: Hypertension is most clearly associated with obesity (weighing more than 20 percent above your desirable body weight). Obesity contributes to an estimated 40 percent or more of all high blood pressure cases in the United States. Although not everyone who is overweight has high blood pressure, the association remains clear.

Cigarette smoking: Cigarette smoking and the use of other tobacco products increase blood pressure, both in the short term while you're smoking or chewing and in the long term, because components in the smoke or chewing tobacco, such as nicotine, cause your arteries to constrict.

Alcohol intake: Drinking small to moderate amounts of alcohol (fewer than two beers, two glasses of wine, or one shot of distilled spirits) per day has been shown in a number of studies to reduce mortality from CAD. Higher consumption of alcohol (three or more alcoholic drinks per day), however, clearly is associated with increased blood pressure, not to mention an increased risk of dying from heart disease.

Physical inactivity: People who are physically inactive increase their likelihood of developing high blood pressure. In one large study of more than 16,000 individuals, inactive people were 35 percent more likely to develop hypertension than were active people, regardless of whether they had a family history of high blood pressure or a personal history of being overweight.

Now you know a little more of blood pressure, let's look at some numbers:

Normal blood pressure would be defined as systolic: 120 or less and diastolic: 80 or less ( systolic is the blood pressure your heart gives at its maximum contraction, diastolic will be the blood pressure your heart gives with rest )
Pre Hypertension: systolic: 139 or less, diastolic: 89 or less
Hypertension I: systolic: 140 or over, diastolic 90 and over
Hypertension II: systolic: 159 or over, diastolic 109 or over

If you have high blood pressure you might want to go and purchase a blood pressure cuff and measure blood pressure regularly.

What do we do for it?

The first change is to drop the salt. Look at all labels of the food you buy to realize how much salt you eat passively... you need to understand that for you to eat excess salt, you do not need to add salt to your food... it is sufficient with the salt you already have in the food you eat. Ketchup has got a lot of salt even though it tastes sweet. The DASH diet has shown, on latest studies to decrease mortality, hypertension and stroke rates with a dietary approach.

Then you will need to decrease stress. Drop the coffee and the sodas. Replace them with chamomille, mint and/or valerian teas.

The next step is to start exercising, even walking 30 minutes a day is good... if you can run, swim or do any low impact exercise, even better.

A good lifestlyle that will increase your exercise ( buy a pedometer to measure your stes, 10,000 steps a day are recommended ) and lower down your calorie intake would be beneficial. Weight loss is always recommended.

There are several approaches on the natural herbs and homeopathy for hypertension such as Hawthorne, calcium and magnesium and garlic. Carditone is a great ayurvedic product to lower down your blood pressure naturally. Acupuncture has shown to decrease blood pressure, but evidence states the effect will "wear off" in 2-3 months. Dark chocolate and Soy protein have also been shown to decrease hypertension naturally.

Another great option to lower down blood pressure is a machine called RESPERATE, that uses your own breathing to generate relaxation and thus the decrease in blood pressure ( without use of pills ). Follow this link to their WEBPAGE: http://www.resperate.com/ and watch this video:



Do follow up with your regular docror to be checked out for other medical problems such as increased lipids and diabetes. He can help you with medications for blood pressure and to rule out other cases of disease.

Please check the video to expand our post: