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Posts Tagged ‘Blood Pressure’

Nadi Shodhana Pranayama or Alternate Nose Breathing

Pranayam educates us the appropriate way to breathe. We turn into used to breathing from our chest, using only a portion of the lungs, not knowing that this injurious and abnormal way of inhaling may direct to a number of complications. With yoga breathing, we boost the capacity of our lungs, bringing additional oxygen supply to the body to function healthy.

Alternate Nose Breathing or Nadi Shodhana Pranayama

Through yoga we gain knowledge of the right way how to breathe bit by bit and intensely. Nadi Shodhana Pranayama is an amazing pranayama method to help you sense centered, with an understandable and dazzling mind for meditation. Nadi Shodhana Pranayama is very helpful in balancing both mechanism of your Autonomous Nervous System namely Sympathetic and Para-Sympathetic Nervous system and thereby stabilizes your mind. To do Nadi Shodham Pranayam you need to sit in a relaxed cross legged position, spinestraight, and shoulders down. Shut the right nostril with the edge of the right thumb and inhale to a count of eight through the left nostril. Read the rest of this entry »

Hypertension or High Blood Pressure

What is blood pressure?

When the heart pumps blood through the arteries, then the pressure exerted on their walls is known as blood pressure.

High blood pressure or hypertension is the condition in which the pressure of blood on the walls of arteries is elevated.

Blood pressure of a person may go up when the person gets exited and the blood pressure of the same person comes down when he/she takes rest. Due to anxiety, fear, stress blood pressure is elevated.

When the arteries become narrower and harder due to deposit of cholesterol and other substances then the heart has to pump harder i.e. has to exert much pressure for sending blood through the arteries, in that case also blood pressure is elevated.

There are also many other factors which affect blood pressure.

Normal blood pressure should be less than 120/80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury). Here the top number 120 mmHg indicates systolic pressure and the bottom number 80 mmHg indicates diastolic pressure.

During measurement of blood pressure at any instant the systolic blood pressure is the peak pressure of blood on the arteries and the diastolic blood pressure is the minimum pressure of blood exerted on the arteries.

Categories and range of blood pressure

                                             Systolic Pressure                                Diastolic Pressure

Normal blood pressure:   May vary from 90 to 119 mmHg                60 to 79 mmHg

High blood pressure:
 Stage I                                May vary from 140 to 159 mmHg              90 to 99 mmHg

Stage II  >=                         160 mm Hg                                             100 mmHg or higher

Hypertension or high blood pressure can have devastating effects on our heart, brain, kidneys and eye sight. Symptoms of high blood pressure are also not always clear.

If you have any one of the following symptoms like:-

i) Irregular heart beat
ii) Shortness of breath
iii) Pain in chest
iv) Blurred vision
v) Nose bleeding
vi) Confusion etc. then you may have high blood pressure and you need to consult a doctor immediately.

Causes of high blood pressure

Factors affecting blood pressure: -
i) Diabetes
ii) Tobacco Smoking
iii) Too much alcohol consumption
iv) Kidney disease
v) Obesity
vi) High fat diets
vii) Atherosclerosis
viii) Coarctation of Aorta
ix) Age

Persons who are in hypertension stage I category can reduce their blood pressure by changing sedentary life style, diets and giving up certain bad habits.

Due to physical activities, blood circulation in every parts of our body especially in brain improves which helps to reduce stress, depression, etc.

A person who is overweight can do light physical exercise. Walking or jogging is very good for weight reduction.

Smoking can damage artery walls. Too much alcohol consumption is also very harmful. Cholesterol causes blockage in artery and is responsible for increasing blood pressure so food containing less cholesterol should be taken. Fried foods and foods rich in saturated fat should be avoided.

Prevention

i) Reduce Sodium intake. Take less salt in food.
ii) Take low fat diet and fat free dairy foods.
iii) Avoid food containing saturated fat.
iv) Take food rich in calcium, potassium and magnesium. Eat vegetables and fruits.
v) Discontinue tobacco smoking
vi) Reduce alcohol consumption
vii) Take less sugar in your diet
viii) Reduce your weight if you are over weight.

Author: S.N.Bhattacharya