HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
High blood pressure is characterized by a continuous surge in blood pressure. It happens when the blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels is outrageously high, such that it puts a strain on your heart and harden the blood vessels, which subsequently leads to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases including heart attack and stroke. When one is diagnosed with high blood pressure, it simply means keeping one’s blood pressure (BP for short) in check throughout one’s life, which is a long-term health management.
You can prevent high blood pressure also known as hypertension by making healthy choices. Here’s what you can do to manage it from the comfort of your home.
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Have your BP checked at each doctor’s visit. Routine check ups and tests should be done regularly. When you are checked, you would be able to speak to your doctor to ensure the antihypertensive medications are adequate. You can also ask questions. This is the first step in ensuring you and your doctor partner together to manage your health condition.
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Take your medications as prescribed. A visit to your physician will lead to the prescription of some medications to help control hypertension. It is crucial that you abide by your medication schedule. This is easier when you’re at home. Inconsistency can cause an increase again in the blood pressure.
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Reduce your salt and sodium consumption. Find and make food recipes that have low sodium. Salt intake should be watched as well . Sodium intake should be kept below 2.4gm. Combining salt and seasoning in a meal isn’t too good for your health. If you use seasoning, do not use salt and vice versa. Also eat home cooked meals instead of restaurant bought meals. This is because you will not be able to control the amount of salt in foods bought. As a matter of fact, you don’t know the kinds of seasonings used in these foods. Additionally, reduce your intake of processed and packaged foods.
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Exercise at least 30 minutes everyday. Exercising for at least 30 minutes a day is very important. Your body needs to be made active, you can engage in exercises like brisk walking, swimming, and cycling. Regular exercise is important for strengthening your heart so it doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout your body.
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Get enough sleep. Do you know that quality sleep is better for your blood pressure? In fact, sleep experts recommend that adults should get 7-8 hours of sleep each night and a regular lack of sleep may lead to high BP in both children and adult. If you already have hypertension, not sleeping well may make your blood pressure worse.
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Make your life tobacco free and reduce your intake of alcohol. Drinking more than tolerable amounts of alcohol can actually take up blood pressure by several points. Moreover, it reduces the efficiency of blood pressure medications. In addition to this, each cigarette you smoke increases your BP, therefore stopping smoking helps your BP to return to normal and reduce your risk of heart disease and by extension improve your overall health.
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Have heart-healthy diet that is rich in fresh vegetables and fruits, but low in fat and cholesterol. It is not easy to change your diet, which is understandable, however you can keep a time table for healthy meals, and stick to your healthy eating plan when you are dining out. Eliminate foods that are high in saturated fats, such as fatty meats, instead introduce more green vegetables and fruits to your meal plan.
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Stress management.
Finding a way to manage stress is also very key. Stress can make your BP skyrocket, and overtime, that can lead to chronic high blood pressure and damage your cardiovascular system. Stress raises levels of the hormones adrenaline and cortisone, which disrupt the smooth lining of the blood vessels. Chronic stress may contribute to high blood pressure. Again, if you react to stress by eating junks, smoking or drinking alcohol, it is time to stop, you’re doing more harm than good to your health.
There’s only one way to know if you have high blood pressure, which is having a doctor or other health professional measure it. Talk with your doctor about regularly measuring your BP at home, which is also called, self-measured blood pressure (SMBP). Whatever your age, you can take steps each day to keep your blood pressure at a healthy range. You can help lower BP by making the above stated lifestyle changes. However, if those changes don’t work well enough, you may still need to take medicine. It’s important to have a healthy heart.
Finally, managing blood pressure at home is about healthy living. Monitor your progress toward a lower blood pressure, ask your doctor for your BP now and what number you should be trying to reach, then, watch as the changes you are making to food, exercise, smoking and medicine help that number fail.
