Hypertension Can Be An Extremely Dangerous Condition For Which There Is Normally A Simple Solution

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In recent years changes in diet and lifestyle in the majority of western countries have led to a growth in the number of individuals suffering from high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (which is otherwise known as hypertension, or more properly arterial hypertension) can be a serious condition that seldom shows any symptoms and which, if left undetected and untreated, can result in stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which represents a serious life-threatening condition.

So precisely what is high blood pressure and exactly what causes it?

The arteries of your body are continuously filled with blood that provides a normal 'background' pressure on the artery walls. As the heart pumps newly oxygenated blood around your body it forces this blood into the arteries which briefly raises the pressure exerted on the artery walls with each beat of the heart. These two pressures are known as the systolic pressure (the higher pressure as the heart pumps) and the diastolic pressure (the lesser normal or 'background' pressure).

Normal levels of blood pressure differ from one individual to the next but, on average, systolic pressure should be in the region of 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure should be about 80 mm Hg. This is generally expressed as a pressure of 120/80.

When your blood pressure starts to rise and remains above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, while this is not serious in itself, it is an indication that you could be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems which are associated with it. Once your blood pressure rises to, and maintains, a level of 140/90 or higher then you are said to be suffering from hypertension and steps should be taken to reduce your blood pressure.

So just what makes you blood pressure rise and than remain at a high level?

Well, there are several factors involved here and the first is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group of factors includes low birth weight, several genetic factors, certain forms of diabetes (especially type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age our arteries tend to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, producing a reduced cross-sectional area through which the blood can flow).

The next group of factors is much more controllable and includes a sedentary lifestyle, large levels of salt and saturated fats in the diet, excess weight, smoking tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and working in certain occupations like flying or motorway maintenance.

The majority of these factors are of course treatable and, in a lot of cases, a quite simple adjustment to your diet and the addition of a little exercise into your daily diary is all that is necessary to solve the problem. However, the difficulty is that, with few, if any, symptoms, the majority of individuals do not know that they have hypertension to start with.

So how do you go about solving the problem?

Fortunately the answer to this question is fairly simple. All you have to do is to pop into your doctor's office regularly (a couple of times a year should be sufficient) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure for you. The procedure is painless, simple and fast and will provide you with peace of mind and may save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense down the road when you are forced to visit his office once high blood pressure rears its ugly head.

If you are not too keen on visiting your doctor then an excellent alternative now is to check your own blood pressure at home. A large selection of simple to operate and reasonably inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available nowadays, allowing you to keep an eye on your own health, and the health of of your entire family, in the privacy and comfort of your own home.