Can High Blood Pressure Be Prevented Or Avoided
If your high blood pressure is caused by lifestyle factors, you can take steps to reduce your risk:
- Reduce your alcohol consumption.
- Learn relaxation methods.
If your high blood pressure is caused by disease or the medicine you take, talk to your doctor. He or she may be able to prescribe a different medicine. Additionally, treating any underlying disease can help reduce your high blood pressure.
How Is It Treated And Can It Be Cured
Treating hypotension usually starts with finding out why its happening. If that cause is treatable directly, hypotension will usually get better on its own. An example of this is hypotension that happens because of an injury and blood loss. Repairing that injury and replacing the lost blood will stop hypotension as long as the repair to the injury holds. If you take medications that affect your blood pressure, your healthcare provider may change your dosage or have you stop taking that medication entirely.
If the cause remains a mystery, its also possible to treat it directly. However, curing hypotension is only possible if theres an underlying cause thats curable.
How Is Blood Pressure Measured
Blood pressure is defined as the amount of pressure that is exerted on the artery walls as blood moves through them. It is measured in millimetres of mercury, or mmHg.
A more detailed explanation is provided below.
Two measurements are used to measure blood pressure:
- Systolic pressure – the measure of blood pressure exerted when your heart beats and forces blood around your body.
- Diastolic pressure – the measure of blood pressure when your heart is resting in between beats.
Both the systolic and diastolic pressures are measured in millimetres of mercury .
The figures are usually represented with the systolic pressure first, followed by the diastolic pressure. Therefore, if your GP says that your blood pressure is ‘120 over 80’, or 120/80mmHg, they mean that you have a systolic pressure of 120mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 80mmHg.
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What Medications/treatments Are Used
Treating hypotension directly usually happens in one of three ways:
- Increasing blood volume. This method, also known as fluid resuscitation, involves infusing fluids into your blood. Examples of this include intravenous fluids, plasma or blood transfusions.
- Making blood vessels constrict. Just as there are medications that lower your blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels in your body, there are also medications that have the opposite effect.
- Change how your body handles fluids. Your kidneys are responsible for maintaining the fluid balance in your body. Certain medications can make your kidneys keep fluid and salt in your body, which can help with low blood pressure.
Complications/side effects of the treatment
The complications of either treatment depend on the exact medication or treatment you receive. Your healthcare provider can best explain the possible complications or side effects. Thats because they can consider your specific circumstances, including other health conditions, medications you take and more.
Get Regular Blood Pressure Checks
If your blood pressure is in the healthy range and you have no other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and no personal or family history of high blood pressure, it is still important to have a check at least every two years. Your doctor can also check your blood pressure during routine visits.
If your blood pressure is highnormal , or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as a personal or family history of high blood pressure, stroke or heart attack, it is best to have it checked more frequently such as every 6 to 12 months or as directed by your doctor. Ask your doctor for advice.
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Variations In Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure changes to meet your bodys needs. If a reading is high, your doctor may measure your blood pressure again on several separate occasions to confirm the level.
Your doctor may also recommend that you measure your blood pressure at home or have a 24-hour recording with a monitoring device.
Foods That Raise Blood Pressure Level
Living with high blood pressure can be a hassle to deal with. A major contributor to our blood pressure is diet. Once we become accustomed to a certain diet, we find it hard to adjust. However, we eventually need to swap out the food that increases blood pressure, as over time, high blood pressure causes blood vessels to become stiff and inflexible. This leads to other potential problems down the linesuch as cardiovascular disease and strokewhich may have fatal consequences.
There are certain foods you should avoid if you have high blood pressure that will be detailed in this article. Along with exercise, prescribed medication, and your doctors assistance, managing high blood pressure can be effortless.
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Causes Of High Blood Pressure
Theres no single cause of high blood pressure, but rather many contributing factors. Some are out of your control, such as age, race, gender, and family historyblood pressure tends to increase over the age of 70, affects more women than men over the age of 55, and is more common in African Americans than Caucasians, perhaps due to a genetic sensitivity to salt.
Many other risk factors for hypertension are within your control. Being overweight, eating a poor diet high in salt, smoking, drinking excessively, and not getting enough physical exercise can all impact your blood pressure.
There are also specific substances that can raise your blood pressure, such as:
- Caffeine, including coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks.
- Prescription medications, including some of those used to treat ADHD, birth control pills, corticosteroids, atypical antipsychotics, MAOIs and SNRIs used to treat depression, and some cancer drugs.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , such as aspirin and ibuprofen .
- Cough and cold medications containing decongestant or NSAIDs.
- Herbal supplements, such as ephedra and yohimbine.
- Recreational drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
- Licorice found in some candies and gum.
What Else Will Help
If these strategies dont reduce your blood pressure, your doctor may feel its necessary to prescribe more pills. But dont despair. “No matter what you are taking now, your doctor should be able to make affordable changes in your blood pressure medications to bring down your numbers,” Dr. Bhatt says.
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What If Lifestyle Changes Dont Help Lower My Blood Pressure
If diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes dont work to lower your blood pressure, your healthcare provider will prescribe medications to help lower your blood pressure. Your provider will take into account other conditions you may have, such as heart or kidney disease and other drugs youre taking when prescribing medications to treat your high blood pressure. Be sure to follow your providers dosing directions exactly.
Habits That May Be Raising Your Blood Pressure
DALLAS, Feb 20, 2019 With nearly half of American adults having elevated blood pressure, its important for everyone to understand that some common habits may affect blood pressure, making the condition more difficult to control.
Thats why the American Heart Association is providing quick reference tools for health care providers to guide their patients in discovering BP raisers that are often hiding in plain sight:
Improper measurement: Mistakes taking blood pressure can lead to false high readings. Ideally, patients will follow up in-office measurements with regular checks at home to rule out white coat hypertension, which occurs due to anxiety in a clinic setting. In either place, patients should be asked to prepare for a blood pressure reading by emptying their bladder, avoiding cigarettes or caffeine for half an hour before the measurement, and sitting quietly for a few minutes before taking a reading. During the test, a patient should rest the arm being measured on a surface thats chest level, feet should be flat on the floor, and no talking.
Over-the-counter medications: Common pain medicines called NSAIDs, such as naproxen and ibuprofen, can increase blood pressure. Ask patients what they use to treat minor aches and pains. Drugs such as acetaminophen are less likely to increase blood pressure. Decongestants are also known BP-raisers. People with heart concerns should limit or avoid them, particularly if their blood pressure is uncontrolled.
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How Is High Blood Pressure Diagnosed
Since high blood pressure doesnt have symptoms, your healthcare provider will need to check your blood pressure with a blood pressure cuff. Providers usually check your blood pressure at every annual checkup or appointment. If you have high blood pressure readings at two appointments or more, your provider may tell you that you have high blood pressure.
What’s The Impact Of Having High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular diseases such as:
- coronary heart disease – where the main arteries that supply your heart become clogged up with plaques
- strokes – a serious condition where the blood supply to your brain is interrupted
- heart attacks – a serious condition where the blood supply to part of your heart is blocked
Diabetes and kidney disease are also linked to high blood pressure complications.
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What Can Cause Blood Pressure To Go Low
There are a few different things that can cause your blood pressure to drop. For example, if you have been standing for an extended period, your blood pressure can drop because of the pooling of blood in your legs. This is why it is essential to move around and keep your circulation going if you stand for extended periods.
Other causes of low blood pressure can include dehydration, shock, and heart conditions. If you have any of these conditions, it is essential to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Causes And Risk Factors
You may be at an increased risk for high blood pressure if you smoke, areoverweight, eat a diet thats low on produce and fiber and/or high in fatand salt, drink alcohol to excess, live with chronic stress or dont getmuch physical activity. Some causes of hypertension cannot becontrolledincluding your genes and your race . Aging also plays a role. Even if you do not have hypertensionby age 55 to 65, your lifetime risk for developing it is a whopping 90percent.
But doctors no longer consider hypertension inevitable or untreatable withage, saysSamuel Durso, M.D., director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at JohnsHopkins.
In one Johns Hopkins study of 975 older women and men with hypertension,healthy lifestyle steps helped 40 percent stop taking blood pressuremedications. Other research has shown that lifestyle changes can lower therisk for hypertension in African-Americans and others at an increasedgenetic risk.
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Secondary High Blood Pressure
Some cases of high blood pressure are the result of underlying factors or cause and this is known as secondary high blood pressure.
Underlying factors include:
- kidney conditions, such as a kidney infection, or kidney disease
- narrowing of the arteries
- hormonal conditions, such as Cushing’s syndrome
- conditions that affect the bodys tissue, such as lupus
- medication, such as the oral contraceptive pill, or the type of painkillers that are known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , such as ibuprofen
- recreational drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines and crystal meth
Occasionally, a rise in blood pressure can result from taking herbal remedies, such as herbal supplements.
What Can I Expect If I Have This Condition
If you have hypotension, what you can expect depends on what causes it and if you have symptoms. If you dont have symptoms, its unlikely that hypotension will be a problem for you.
If you have symptoms, hypotension can interfere with your ability to stand up, care for yourself, cook, drive and do many other activities. That’s why understanding the condition and following a healthcare provider’s guidance are so important to minimizing this condition’s impact on your life.
How long does hypotension last?
How long this condition lasts depends very much on what caused it. If you have hypotension because of normal aging, it will probably be a lifelong concern.
Whats the outlook for hypotension?
If you have low blood pressure but dont have symptoms, this condition usually isnt harmful and shouldnt impact your life.
If you do have symptoms, the underlying cause is usually what determines the outlook for this condition. Your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you what to expect from this condition and what you can do to manage those effects.
Complications that can happen because of hypotension include:
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Types Of Low Blood Pressure
Medical professionals distinguish between three different types of hypotension. The most common type is primary hypotension . Other examples are secondary and ortho static hypotension.
- Primary hypotension: describes the most common form and usually occurs without a clear cause.
- Secondary hypotension: mostly occurs as a result of an underlying disease such as an underactive thyroid or various heart diseases.
- Orthostasis hypotension: occurs due to volume shift. for example, when you get up quickly from lying down.
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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Boost Your B12 Intake
Vitamin B12 performs a critical role in helping the body produce healthy red blood cells. Lack of this important vitamin can result in anemia, which lowers blood pressure and can result in excessive bleeding as well as organ and nerve damage. Foods that are rich in vitamin B12 include eggs, chicken, fish like salmon and tuna, and low-fat dairy products.
List Of Food & Home Remedies For Hypotension
Licorice root: The licorice root is responsible for the healthy functioning of the kidneys. It helps excellent against chronic fatigue and gives a lot of energy. The licorice root can found in herbal liqueurs, cough syrups, and special teas.
Chocolate: Chocolate contains substance theobromine, which improves the heart rate and increases blood pressure. However, the dark chocolate variant should use, since it contains more cocoa and less sugar.
Salt: While most people have to pay attention to their salt consumption, hypotonic people are welcome to add more salt. The salt increases the sodium content in the blood, which is essential for blood pressure.
Spices: You may be wondering which spices can raise blood pressure? Spices such as rosemary, ginger, pepper, and chili warm you from the inside and stimulate the metabolism and increase blood pressure due to their aromatic substances. Alternatively, rosemary and ginger can also consume as a tea.
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Regular Blood Pressure Checks If Diagnosed With High Blood Pressure
If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, your blood pressure will need to be closely monitored until it is brought under control.
After your blood pressure has been controlled, your GP or practice nurse will measure your blood pressure at agreed regular intervals .
It is important you attend these appointments to ensure your blood pressure is being maintained within an acceptable range.
How To Raise Blood Pressure Quickly
Low blood pressure can turn into a dangerous condition because it can cause damage to the vital organs of the body. It therefore become imperative to raise low blood pressure to the normal levels. The following article will take you through some of the ways by which this can be accomplished.
Low blood pressure can turn into a dangerous condition because it can cause damage to the vital organs of the body. It therefore become imperative to raise low blood pressure to the normal levels. The following article will take you through some of the ways by which this can be accomplished.
Low blood pressure is caused when there is inadequate flow of blood to the varied organs of the body, especially the heart and brain. Blood is responsible for supplying the body with oxygen and other essential nutrients, thus when the pressure of the blood flow drops, it causes a lot of adverse effects that include, in its severe form, a damage to your vital organs. Low blood pressure will lead to symptoms of nausea, dizziness and fainting, among others. Though this condition is not usually considered dangerous, if there is a sudden drop in the pressure and it leads to fainting or dizziness, it can lead to complications . This is especially true in the case of old people.
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Can High Blood Pressure Affect Pregnancy
High blood pressure complicates about 10% of all pregnancies. There are several different types of high blood pressure during pregnancy and they range from mild to serious. The forms of high blood pressure during pregnancy include:
Chronic hypertension: High blood pressure which is present before pregnancy.
Gestational hypertension: High blood pressure in the latter part of pregnancy.
Preeclampsia: This is a dangerous condition that typically develops in the latter half of pregnancy and results in hypertension, protein in the urine and generalized swelling in the pregnant person. It can affect other organs in the body and cause seizures .
Chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia: Pregnant people who have chronic hypertension are at increased risk for developing preeclampsia.
Your provider will check your blood pressure regularly during prenatal appointments, but if you have concerns about your blood pressure, be sure to talk with your provider.