What is High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)?

High Blood Pressure is also called hypertension. You and your physician should be concerned about your blood pressure being elevated because, over time, it puts you at risk for many serious health problems, including:

1. Heart Disease
2. Heart Attacks
3. Stroke
4. Heart Failure
5. Arterial Disease
6. Aortic Aneurysm
7. Kidney Disease
8. Dementia
9. Others

The first step is to learn what the blood pressure numbers mean. The “top” number is the systolic blood pressure, and the “bottom” is the diastolic blood pressure. It is standardly written as 120/80.

The systolic pressure is the pressure in your arteries when your heartbeats. Diastolic pressure is the pressure in your arteries when your heart is resting between beats.

Blood Pressure Evaluation:

Once you determine you have high normal or high blood pressure, it is time to start doing something about it. Over time, elevated blood pressure damages the arteries and vital organs, leading to serious medical problems.

Once finding out your blood pressure is elevated, there are many things you can do to improve your health.

1. Lose Weight
2. Decrease the salt in your diet
3. Increase or maintain regular physical activity
4. Limit alcohol intake
5. Quit smoking (if you are a smoker)
6. Monitor your blood pressure regularly.

Last, consider the use of medications. There are many different blood pressure medications. You and your medical professional will decide on an appropriate medication if you need one to decrease your blood pressure. If one medicine does not help, your medical professional will add a second or even a third medicine.

If medicines for blood pressure do not excite you and they should not, a complete weight loss plan from a medical professional experienced with weight loss is the best way to eliminate the need for blood pressure medication. If you have struggled to lose weight in the past, do something different. Use a professional this time.