Hypertension Explained: Expert Tips To Lower High Blood Pressure

What Is High Blood Pressure Or Hypertension?

When the force of blood pushing against your arterial wall is high, it is called high blood pressure, which can be asymptomatic but can lead to heart attack or failure, stroke, or kidney disease.

Generally, normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg, elevated blood pressure is considered between 120-129/80-89 mm Hg, and high blood pressure is a reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher in young patients and 140/80 mm Hg or higher in elderly patients.

Blood pressure is usually measured in 2 values, for instance, 130/80. The larger value, 130, is when your heart is contracting at the time of heartbeat, and the smaller value is 80, which is when your heart is relaxed between heartbeats.

What Are Causes Of High Blood Pressure?

About 85% of adults have primary or essential hypertension, whose cause is unknown, and the remaining 15% have secondary hypertension, which can be due to any heart or kidney disease, hormonal causes, or psychological.

Some important risk factors for high blood pressure are old age, obesity, family history, sedentary lifestyle, or smoking or alcohol use.

How Can I Check My Blood Pressure At Home?

You can buy a good digital blood pressure monitor at home to monitor your blood pressure.

Home-based blood pressure monitoring charts can be shown to a doctor to optimize medications and decrease the risk of complications arising from raised blood pressure.

Will I Need Tests For Raised Blood Pressure?

When you visit your doctor, he will take some history, do a brief examination, and may order some baseline investigations, such as a complete blood count, urine test, chest X-ray, ECG, and CT scan of your chest or brain, if he suspects any complications.

How Can I Lower My Raised Blood Pressure?

If your doctor tells you that your blood pressure is elevated, it means it is higher than normal readings, which are also not good for your health. You need to take care of it by dietary modifications and exercises with regular monitoring, whereas high blood pressure needs treatment.

If there is any side effect of medicines you are prescribed, the cost is too high, or you are unable to take medicines because of any other reason, then the doctor can always lower the dose of medicines or offer you any alternative medications.

Also Read: 15 Amazing Home Remedies For High Blood Pressure

Can I Lower My Blood Pressure Without Medications?

In order to lower your blood pressure, you can:

1. Have a diet that is low in fats, and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
2. If you are overweight, lose some weight.
3. Decrease salt in your diet to 2,3 gm per table, equaling to 6 grams or less of table salt.
4. Do exercise at least 30-40 min 4-5 times per week.
5. Stop smoking.
6. Avoid alcohol usage (2 alcohol drinks per week).

Just have a diet plan and make up your mind about how much weight you want to lose. Go on by changing one thing at a time in your diet; don’t try to implement all things at once.

For example, if you like fried items, just switch to an air fryer, or if you like meat, try grilling meat instead of frying it. You should avoid taking excess sweets, sugar, refined grains, or red meat, but you can have nuts like peanuts, walnuts, or almonds and fish and chicken.

Be easy on yourself, and if you have a sedentary lifestyle, start doing exercises from 5-10 minutes per day for 1-2 times per week and then gradually increase your exercise timing by 5-10 minutes per week. If you can’t stick to your schedule, don’t give up; keep on trying or make another plan.

What Kind Of Medicines Might I Need To Lower My Blood Pressure?

There are different classes of medicines available to treat blood pressure, like:

1. Medicines called ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, such as enalapril, captopril, valsartan, and candesartan, also help to protect kidneys and treat heart failure patients.
2. Medicines called diuretics, which cause you to urinate more than usual, like hydrochlorothiazide and furosemide.
3. Medicines called calcium channel blockers, such as amlodipine, diltiazem, and verapamil, also prevent chest pain in heart patients.
4. Medicines called beta blockers, like atenolol, carvedilol, and metoprolol, help to reduce the amount of heart work.
5. Medicines called alpha-blockers can also be used for prostatomegaly, like doxazosin and terazosin.
6. Direct vasodilators like minoxidil and hydralazine.

What Symptoms Can I Experience While Having High Blood Pressure?

1. Headache, confusion, or seizures
2. Blurring or loss of vision
3. Nausea, vomiting or chest pain
4. Trouble breathing
5. Weakness or numbness of one side of the body or face or difficulty talking
6. Brown or bloody urine

What Are Complications Of High Blood Pressure?

If blood pressure is greater than 180/120 mm Hg or higher and doesn’t damage any organ, it is called hypertensive urgency. If blood pressure causes organ damage, it is called a hypertensive emergency. Serious problems that can result from raised blood pressure are:

1. Blurring of vision, bleeding in the eye, or vision loss because of swelling of nerves in the eye.
2. High blood pressure can cause heart attack, aortic dissection, or heart failure.
3. Swelling or bleeding in the brain or stroke.
4. Kidney failure.

Conclusion

Hypertension is a serious condition that needs to be monitored closely to prevent complications. To get help, it is advised to consult a cardiologist or heart health specialist for effective management of your condition.