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Archive for the ‘Blood Pressure’ Category

Blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.High blood pressure is also called hypertension. High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Nearly 1 in 3 American adults has high blood pressure. Once high blood pressure develops, it usually lasts a lifetime. Hypertension can be classified as either essential (primary) or secondary. Essential hypertension indicates that no specific medical cause can be found to explain a patient’s condition. Secondary hypertension indicates that the high blood pressure is a result of another condition, such as kidney disease or certain tumors.

People with hypertension had greater declines in all three functional measures than those with normal blood pressure. High blood pressure might also be caused by another medical problem. Regardless of race, age, or gender, anyone can develop high blood pressure. At severely high pressures, defined as mean arterial pressures 50% or more above average. Sodium is an environmental factor that has received the greatest attention. Hypertension is one of the most common complex disorders, with genetic heritability averaging 30%. Approximately 60% of the essential hypertension population is responsive to sodium intake. Sleep apnea is a common, under-recognized cause of hypertension. Another claimed cause of hypertension is the misalignment of vertebrae within the spinal column.

Certain medications including birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants also may cause secondary hypertension. You can control high blood pressure through healthy lifestyle habits and taking medicines. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) keep calcium from entering the muscle cells of your heart and blood vessels. Nervous system inhibitors relax blood vessels by controlling nerve impulses from the brain. Vasodilators open blood vessels by directly relaxing the muscle in the vessel walls, causing blood pressure to go down. Reducing sodium (salt) diet is proven very effective. Weight reduction and regular aerobic exercise (e.g. jogging) are recommended as the first steps in treating mild to moderate hypertension. Avoid tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been shown to lower blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure Treatment and Prevention Tips

1. Beta blockers medications reduce the workload on your heart.

2. Reducing sodium (salt) diet is proven very effective.

3. Nervous system inhibitors relax blood vessels by controlling nerve impulses from the brain.

4. Thiazide diuretics medications act on your kidneys to help your body eliminate sodium and water.

5. Angiotensin II receptor blockers medications help relax blood vessels by blocking the action.

6. Weight reduction and regular aerobic exercise are recommended.

7. Avoid tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been shown to lower blood pressure.

About the author: Juliet Cohen writes articles for Diseases. She also writes articles for Makeup and Hairstyles.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Most people, unless they have symptoms which demand immediate attention, limit their visits to the doctor to an annual or semi-annual checkup. As long as everything checks out OK, they don’t make many changes in their diet and exercise until it’s time for the next physical.

Because hypertension–high blood pressure, also known as the silent killer–usually does not announce its arrival, someone could go for six month to a year, until the next checkup, without having it diagnosed. But there are people, and you may be one of them, who should be keeping track of their high blood pressure on a regular basis.

If high blood pressure is common among your family members, you should be doing things to avoid developing it, but just as importantly, you should be keeping track of your blood pressure so that if it does seem to be elevated over a period of a month or so, you can get to the doctor before it’s time for your next physical. You should consider buying a home blood pressure machine.

How A Home Blood Pressure Machine Works

Home blood pressure machines are very similar to the ones the physician’s assistant uses to take your blood pressure prior to your annual checkups; except that they do not require you to be trained in reading the gauges. As with the machine in your doctor’s office, there is a band which tightened around your upper arm; you use a Velcro attachment instead of a pump to tighten it.

When it feels sufficiently tight–not excruciatingly so–you will press its start button, and the blood pressure machine will spend a few seconds sensing your blood pressure. Your reading will appear in clearly readable figures on the home blood pressure machine’s screen.

Where To Buy A Home Blood Pressure Machine

Home blood pressure machines are widely available; you don’t even have to go to a medical supplies store to find one. Look for them at any pharmacy, or at any store with a pharmacy department, and you’ll be likely to find at least one make of blood pressure machine. Many stores offer a selection of them and you can go with the one which best suits your budget.

If you are already suffering from high blood pressure, check with your health insurance company to see if they will cover the cost of a home blood pressure machine. It would be a low-cost way of saving them some significant money later on.

Home blood pressure meters are easy to operate and easy to read. All you have to do is stick your arm through the band and tighten up the band with the easy to use Velcro attachment. Once your arm is secure, just press the start button and in a few short seconds, your blood pressure will be presented to you on the easy to read screen in large letters. So, if you want to be sure that you always know what your blood pressure is at, then you need to head down to your local drugstore and see if you can purchase a home blood pressure machine.

About the author: You can also find more info on Blood Pressure Medication and Blood Pressure Monitor.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Many people think that high blood pressure is a natural part of getting older. But it does not have to be that way. When you lower high blood pressure, you can cut the risk of heart disease and stroke in half or more. That may seem hard to believe. After all, you can have high blood pressure and still feel great. It is like when you blow up a balloon too much, you put too much pressure on a structure that is not built to take it. It pops. That is what high blood pressure does to your arteries. Under extra pressure, the plaque may rupture. As it breaks lose, it turns into the stuff clots are made of, and your risk of heart attacks and stroke rises. If your kidneys are not working right, they can produce hormones to tighten the blood vessels, constricting the arteries, and putting on the pressure. Stress can be another common cause of increased constriction of the blood vessels. Here are some tips that you can consider to take off the pressure.

1. Reduce Fat Intake

Most people’s daily calories come from fat. To lower the high blood pressure and get your cholesterol down, it is recommended to get your fat consumption down to 10 percent of calories to reverse heart disease. Get into the habit of checking the labels on processed food, they will fill you in on the fat content.

2. Get Active

Physical activity lowers the high blood pressure. If you are not doing anything, start to do something physical. Just accumulate 30 minutes of activity a day. This need not be marathon running. You can walk, ride an exercise bicycle, work in the garden, or mow the lawn.

3. Up The Antioxidants

High blood pressure is caused, by part, by a shortage of disease-fighting antioxidants in your system. Free radicals, compounds that antioxidants disarm, block your body’s production of nitric oxide and prostacyclin, both of which relax blood vessels to help keep blood pressure down. You can get antioxidants through your diet by eating foods rich in beta-carotene and vitamins C and E, such as carrots, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.

4. Drop Some Pounds

Being overweight can contribute to high blood pressure. A weight loss of just 5 to 10 pounds can actually make blood pressure medication unnecessary in some cases.

5. Add The Potassium

Low potassium intake can also increase blood pressure. Get it from your diet such as fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly bananas and potatoes.

6. Lower Stress

Stress can get your heart pumping and your pressure rising. As stress raises your heart rate and blood pressure, hormones may make the coronary arteries constrict. The combination of reduced blood supply and greater demand for blood can lead to a heart attack.

7. Cut The Salt

As you get older, your system becomes more sensitive to salt and hangs on to it longer. Consuming 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams a day puts you in the low-salt and high-health range. So check those nutrition labels when you shop and look for no-salt or low-salt products.

About the Author: Raymond Lee is one of the foremost experts in the health and fitness industry and is the Founder of Bodyfixes Group specializing in body health, muscle development and dieting. He is currently the author of the latest edition of “Neck Exercises and Workouts.” Visit http://www.bodyfixes.com for more information.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com