Relationship Between High Blood Pressure And Fatty Liver Disease
Hypertension almost never occurs in isolation. Usually, high blood pressure occurs as part of a complex of conditions: elevated cholesterol, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver disease. All of these conditions are interrelated and can be controlled with lifestyle adjustments. Almost always, the actions you can take to improve cholesterol, lose weight, or reverse fatty liver disease will improve associated health conditions as well.
Your Odds Of Developing High Blood Pressure Are Pretty Good
To answer the question Why me? it helps to know the data. The Framingham Heart Study followed a subset of 1,300 participants ages 55 to 65 who did not have hypertension at baseline. Their remarkable finding: the lifetime risk of developing hypertension was 90%. So even if you havent developed high blood pressure by middle age, chances are nine out of ten that you will at some point. This number is most likely so high because more of us are overweight and are living longer.
So instead of being surprised if you are diagnosed with hypertension, it is actually more logical to be amazed if you never develop it. On an optimistic note, we have seen a decline in the frequency of severe hypertension. We owe this fall to better treatment. So if you learn you have high blood pressure, the most important response is to accept the diagnosis. Hypertension cant remedy itself your commitment is the first step toward great blood pressure control.
Watch this video for more commentary on getting a high blood pressure diagnosis:
Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure
Hypertension is often referred to as a silent killer, since it usually doesnt have symptoms until it has reached the level of a medical emergency. Someone may have hypertension for years and not realize it until they experience negative cardiovascular effects.
If symptoms accompany high blood pressure, these may exhibit as:
- Dizziness
- Difficulty breathing
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Cayenne For High Blood Pressure
Greetings EC,
My Aunt is 85 weights about 102 pounds, and she is a smoker. She is a strong woman and as I have said before, she can tie her own shoes. The only medicine she is on is blood pressure medicine. When my aunt had a complaint of being dizzy, I took her pressure it was 154 over 93. Her heart rate was 144!
I had her to do the breathing exercises and gave her a magnesium supplement, which helped to lower her pressure and got her heart rate down to 100. However when she arose the next day we had to fight the same battle with heart rates of 138,119,133. Her heart rate would go down with the breathing exercises and slowing creep back up.
She woke up the third morning with a fast heart rate of 144 once again, however her blood pressure was 130/89. But I said this means war! I remembered that in 2020 we used to give her cayenne pepper capsules, this kept her normally high blood pressure on the low side. When she ran out we did not continue it. Someone needed to be there to monitor it. So remembering cayenne pepper, I got the hot sauce bottle out of the cabinet. I put about two tablespoons in a half cup of water with a spoon of molasses. She said this is bitter. So I added a half teaspoon of sugar and she drank the mixture down. Ten minutes later, I took her pressure again, it was 146/84 with a heart of 79. Seventy-nine what a big drop from 144.
HisJewel
CayenneCayenne
Cayenne Pepper Extract does a better job for High Blood Pressure than the capsules, in my opinion.
Genetically Modified Rats Recapitulate The Genetic Disorder
But what proved more interesting to the scientists was a rat model created by the Bader Lab using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. With the help of the gene-editing tool, the team had altered nine base pairs in a region of the PDE3A gene that is mutated in the syndrome, a so-called mutation hot spot. The resulting enzyme differed from the normal variants with respect to three amino acids. And just as in the patients, this tiny change increased the activity of the enzyme, Ercu says.
Micro-CT imaging of the left front paws shows that, in comparison to a wild-type rat , the metacarpal bones of the rats with a mutated PDE3A gene are shortened.
The rats resembled human patients to a truly extraordinary degree, Ercu adds. They not only suffered from high blood pressure, but the toes on their forefeet were significantly shortened similar to the fingers of people with the syndrome. And using micro-computed tomography, the researchers discovered a prominent loop in the brain vessels of the rats that is also found in people with the syndrome. Our rat model provides, in my view, definitive proof that the syndrome is caused by a mutation in the PDE3A gene, Klußmann says.
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The Physical Fitness Factor
The new study, published in Hypertension, included more than 6,000 healthy adults. About a third of them had a parent with high blood pressure.
Their physical fitness levels were followed for nearly five years.
The results confirmed that people who had a parent with high blood pressure were more likely to develop high blood pressure — about 20% more likely, after considering other risk factors, including age, smoking, high cholesterol, and being overweight.
But the researchers found some good news for people with and without a family history of the disease, and physical fitness was the key.
People with a high level of physical fitness were 42% less likely to have high blood pressure and those with a moderate level of fitness were 26% less likely, compared to people with a low level of physical fitness.
Among people with a parent with high blood pressure, those who were most physically fit had only a 16% higher risk of developing high blood pressure than those who were fit and had no family history of the disease.
The reverse was also true. People with a parent with high blood pressure and a low level of physical fitness were 70% more likely to develop hypertension compared to highly fit people with no family history of the disease.
“The correlation between fitness levels, parental history, and risk are impossible to ignore,” Shook says.
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How Can Lifestyle Changes Help
Making healthy lifestyle choices is an important part of treatment. It can help bring high blood pressure under control. This may include losing extra weight, eating meals with less fat and salt, limiting alcohol to no more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for woman, and starting a regular exercise program approved by a healthcare provider. If your family member is a smoker, your healthcare provider will advise him or her to stop. Smoking increases the risk of complications such as heart attacks or strokes.
Special blood pressure medicines may also be needed. There are many effective medicines for high blood pressure. Sometimes, a combination of different medicines may be needed. These medicines must be taken as instructed by your healthcare provider even if your family member is feeling fine. High blood pressure is damaging even when it causes no symptoms.
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Other Types Of Hypertension
- Essential hypertension is classed as someone with hypertension with no identifiable secondary cause, and the majority of hypertensive patients fall under this category.
- There is also secondary hypertension where the cause is another medical condition..
- Malignant hypertension is classified as severe HTN, usually grade 3, with clear ongoing detrimental effects to organ systems. This only affects around 1% of hypertensive patients in the US.
- Resistant hypertension is when a patients blood pressure cannot be brought to the target level despite optimal lifestyle changes and 3 or more medications.
White coat hypertension is a phenomenon where a patient exhibits higher blood pressure in a medical environment during a blood pressure reading. The term white coat refers to the signature attire of a doctor.
Healthy Diet Regular Exercise Continue To Play Important Roles In Controlling High Blood Pressure
Researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute suggest that, contrary to common belief, the risk of developing high blood pressure has more to do with genetics in women than in men. The effect of genes on hypertension risk, when compared to that of lifestyle factors, such as diet, exercise and stress management, appears to be more important in women versus men. The findings were in the journal Hypertension.
We now understand the likelihood for developing high blood pressurewhether early or late in lifeis more genetically determined in women than in men, said Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, MMsc director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute and lead author on the study. In other words, a woman with low genetic risk is less likely to develop hypertension than a man with low genetic risk. Conversely, a woman with high genetic risk is more likely to develop hypertension than a man with high genetic risk.
Cheng and her research team used blood pressure and genotype data collected from more than 200,000 women and men who were followed for over five decades. Results confirmed their hypothesis that sex-specific genetic risk traits are more profoundly associated with risk for hypertension in women than in menparticularly for the type of hypertension that starts early in life.
However, this latest study is the first to ask if hypertension in women is more genetically determined than hypertension in men.
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How Is High Blood Pressure Hereditary
Scientists are finding that specific genes are strongly associated with the development of high blood pressure. Thats not to say that having these genes on their own is enough to cause high blood pressure. But if you get these genes passed on to you by your parents, then they make you more at risk of developing high blood pressure.
So far scientists have identified almost one hundred sections of the genetic code which affect blood pressure. Some of these genes make people more susceptible to high blood pressure. Each has different effects on the body and circulatory system. Some affect the way the kidneys regulate fluids and salt . Others affect the way the blood vessels themselves regulate blood pressure .
Some of these genetic variations are fairly common. Researchers estimate that some are carried by about 5% of the population. Most of these genes are each associated with only a small risk of high blood pressure. The more of these genetic variations you have, the more likely you are to have a genetic risk of high blood pressure.
However, the most recent major study not only found more of these types of genes, but also found three genes which have a larger effect on blood pressure. Thankfully, these genes are quite rare in the worlds populations.
Things That Can Increase Your Risk Of Getting High Blood Pressure
You might be more at risk if you:
- are overweight
- eat too much salt and do not eat enough fruit and vegetables
- do not do enough exercise
- drink too much alcohol or coffee
- smoke
- do not get much sleep or have disturbed sleep
- are over 65
- have a relative with high blood pressure
- are of black African or black Caribbean descent
- live in a deprived area
Making healthy lifestyle changes can sometimes help reduce your chances of getting high blood pressure and help lower your blood pressure if it’s already high.
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High Blood Pressure The Genetic Link What To Do
Having high blood pressure in your family doesnt mean you have to suffer it too. But it does mean that you will have work a little harder at keeping your blood pressure withing healthy limits.
That certainly applies to me and perhaps to you too. If I lived the lifestyle of my former girlfriend mentioned above my blood pressure would have gone through the ceiling and my cardio-vascular health levels would be seriously compromised.
Today I enjoy blood pressure readings that often fall below the 120/80 benchmark but its not because Im lucky, or am genetically programmed for low blood pressure, or because I take medication daily.
I am genetically susceptible to high blood pressure but I keep it down through exercise, diet and avoiding high levels of stress.
For example:
Im currently staying on my yacht in Saint Martin in the West Indies. There are many sailing boats here from all over North America and Europe. Almost without exception everyone gets ashore on their dinghies powered by outboard motors.
I row. Its not that far and its great exercise.
I start everyday with a bowl of oatmeal and a banana along with some dietary supplements such as multi-vitamins, calcium and magnesium. It helps keep my body happy and my blood pressure down.
Ill often do stress-relieving exercises, like 15 minutes of slow breathing in the evening before bed ensuring a good sleep.
If I can do it anyone can :-).
Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally The Complete 9 Step Guide
What Are The Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure
Most people who have high blood pressure do not have symptoms. This is why its sometimes called the silent killer. It is very important to have your blood pressure checked regularly.
Some people experience headaches, nosebleeds, or shortness of breath with high blood pressure. However, those symptoms can mimic many other things . Usually, these symptoms occur once blood pressure has reached a dangerously high level over a period of time.
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Causal Blood Pressure Genes Found In The Human Kidney
An international team of scientists led by The University of Manchester have discovered 179 kidney genes responsible for high blood pressure.
High blood pressure, known as silent killer, is one of the most common human diseases and remains the key risk factor for strokes and heart attacks.
High blood pressure – or hypertension- runs in families but the exact mechanisms through which genes influence individuals predisposition to hypertension is not clear.
The discoveries published in Nature Genetics, one of the worlds leading journals, shed new light on our understanding of genetic predisposition to high blood pressure.
The study, supported primarily by the British Heart Foundation and Kidney Research UK, was possible through access to huge datasets of human DNA and RNA from possibly the worlds largest repository of human kidney tissue-based omics.
The team led by Professor Maciej Tomaszewski at The University of Manchester characterised how information inherited in DNA translates into genetic predisposition to high blood through changes in activity of certain kidney genes.
These studies included comprehensive analyses conducted at various molecular levels of kidney tissue combining together DNA, RNA and other layers from the same set of kidney tissue samples.
Yet, our understanding of the role of genes in development of this condition has been incomplete.
Other Genes Affecting Ion Transporter Activity
Variants of the endothelial sodium channel initially were not associated with essential hypertension, but more recent studies have found some association , or linkage. Hypertensive black Africans with the Thr594Met variant were highly responsive to amiloride. Approximately 7% of hypertension in blacks was attributable to the Arg563Gln mutation of endothelial sodium channel in one study. Other ion transporter genes, although involving Mendelian forms of hypertension or hypotension, have apparently not been associated directly with essential hypertension. Apparently, no studies have identified associations or linkage to hypertension for the major Na-H exchanger genes NHE1, NHE2, or NHE3 .
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How Can I Treat High Blood Pressure
Currently, there are limited options for treatment until more is known about inherited high blood pressure. Also, there needs to be better matched targeted therapies to reverse or control how the gene affects blood pressure. Lifestyle changes with or without blood-pressure-lowering medication are the way to address high blood pressure and reduce the risk for heart attack, stroke, and other consequences of uncontrolled hypertension, Dr. Mintz says.
Know Your Risk For High Blood Pressure
Some medical conditions can raise your risk for high blood pressure, but you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control.
Risk factors that can increase your risk of high blood pressure include health conditions, your lifestyle, and your family history.
Some of the risk factors for high blood pressure cannot be controlled, such as your age or family history. But you can take steps to lower your risk by changing the factors you can control.
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Potential Complications Of High Blood Pressure
If high blood pressure is left untreated over a long period of time, it can raise your chances of developing related conditions. The constant pressure in your blood vessels causes damage, resulting in narrow, stiffened arteries that restrict blood flow. When blood flow is limited, all organs in your body are in jeopardy of receiving inadequate oxygen and nutrients. Hypertension-related artery damage markedly increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and experiencing a heart attack or stroke.
What Does High Blood Pressure Feel Like
Perhaps the most important thing you can know about high blood pressure is that it usually doesnt produce any symptoms. Most people dont realize they have it until they visit their doctor for a routine checkup or something worse happens !
The lack of symptoms is the big thing here. At life-threatening levels, some people can develop headaches, nosebleeds, or have shortness of breath, but thats not everyone or even most. This is why its important to understand the risk factors and know which are relevant to you.
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Current Research On High Blood Pressure
A study was published in Scientific Reports titled Examining the effect of mitochondrial DNA variants on blood pressure in two Finnish cohorts.
Since the effect of mitochondrial DNA single-nucleotide polymorphisms on BP is less understood than that of nuclear SNPs, the research sought to examine the mitochondrial genetic determinants of systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial BP.
Its results agree with several previous studies suggesting that mtDNA variation does not significantly impact BP regulation.
Another research study was published in Kidney360, titled Association of Blood Pressure Genetic Risk Score with Cardiovascular Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease Progression: Findings from the CRIC Study.
The study investigated whether blood pressure genetic risk predicts cardiovascular disease and kidney failure progression in patients with chronic kidney disease.
It found that higher genetic risk was not associated with chronic kidney disease progression. Thus, it concluded that while genetic risk for elevation in blood pressure was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, it did not contribute to chronic kidney disease progression.