High Blood Pressure: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

High Blood Pressure: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

What is high BP (high blood pressure)?

High Blood Pressure: Busy lifestyles, improper diet, and stress give rise to many diseases and disorders. One of them is high BP (high blood pressure, high blood pressure). High blood pressure has now become a major health problem. The blood flow in your body becomes very fast during high blood pressure. In this case, your heart has to work more.

Our heart pumps blood through the arteries into the body, giving us life. A certain pressure is necessary for the blood flowing in our arteries. When this pressure is increased due to any reason, then there is pressure on the arteries and this condition is called high blood pressure.

Having high blood pressure continuously can cause any harm to our body. Even heart failure can occur.

The pressure is of two types - systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. When your systolic blood pressure is 140 mmHg or above and diastolic blood pressure is more than 90 mmHg or above for a week, this condition is called hypertension.

What should be the normal blood pressure range

Blood pressure is usually divided into five categories:

Hypotension (low blood pressure)

• Systolic mmHg 90 or less
• Diastolic mmHg 60 or less

Normal blood pressure

• Systolic mmHg 90–119
• Diastolic mmHg 60-79

Prehypertension

• Systolic mmHg 120-139
• Diastolic mmHg 80–89

Hypertension stage 1

• Systolic mmHg 140–159
• Diastolic mmHg 90- 99

Hypertension (stage 2)

• Systolic mmHg greater than 160
• Diastolic mmHg over 100

Symptoms of High BP

High blood pressure is also sometimes referred to as a 'silent killer'

• Nose bleeding
• Headache
• Breathing problem
• Dizziness
• Chest pain
• Blood in urine

As mentioned above, there are usually no symptoms due to high blood pressure, so to avoid high blood pressure and its complications, it is important for you to have blood pressure levels checked regularly. If you take it lightly, it can cause serious health problems like heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or blindness. It can also cause death.

Ignoring this can be a sign of a serious health crisis. For high BP you have to make some healthy changes in your diet and lifestyle. Also, consult a doctor. You can avoid this trouble by taking a little care. Always smile and stay away from stress to avoid high BP.

Reason - Why does blood pressure increase?

When it comes to the causes of hypertension, it is divided into two categories:

1. Primary High Blood Pressure:

The reasons for this have not been identified. It develops slowly over time.

2. Secondary High Blood Pressure:

Some people have high BP due to some other reason such as misuse of medicine or some disease. Some reasons that can cause secondary high blood pressure are as follows:

Growing old

The risk of high blood pressure increases with age. High blood pressure is more common in men than women, however, after 60 years of age, both men and women are equally susceptible to high blood pressure.

 

Heredity

If a close member (mother or father) in your family has high blood pressure, you may be more likely to get the disease. An international scientific study identified eight common genetic differences that may increase the risk of hypertension.

 

Obesity

Overweight and obese people are more likely to develop hypertension than normal-weight people.

 

Lack of physical activity

Lack of exercise, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, also increases the risk of hypertension.

 

Smoking

Smoking causes blood vessels to narrow, resulting in high blood pressure. Smoking also leads to a lack of oxygen in the blood, causing the heart to pump rapidly to compensate, which can lead to an increase in blood pressure

 

Alcohol abuse

According to researchers, people who drink alcohol regularly have a higher systolic blood pressure than normal people. They found that systolic blood pressure levels are approximately 7 mmHg higher than those who do not drink frequently. 

 

Eat more salt

Researchers said that people who eat less salt have a lower blood pressure than those who eat more salt.

 

High intake of fatty food

Many health professionals say that a fat diet increases the risk of high blood pressure. Most dieticians say that the problem is not how much fat we consume, but rather the type of fat we consume. Fats derived from plants like avocado, nuts, olive oil are good for you. Whereas saturated fat and trans fat are bad for you.

 

Mental stress

According to various studies, mental stress can have serious effects on blood pressure.

Diabetes

Diabetes patients have a higher risk of hypertension. High blood sugar has a higher risk of hypertension in patients with type 1 diabetes. Keeping blood sugar levels low reduces the risk of high BP. People with type 2 diabetes are at a higher risk of hypertension due to factors such as high blood sugar as well as being overweight and obese, certain medications, and some heart disease.

 

High BP may also occur during pregnancy

Pregnant women are at a higher risk of developing hypertension than normal women of the same age. It is the most common medical problem during pregnancy.

What causes the risk of high BP to increase?

There are many risk factors for high BP, some of which are:

Age: The risk of high BP increases with your age. High BP is common in men between 40 and 45 years old. Most women have high BP after the age of 65.

Family history: Many or all members of a family often have high BP problems.

Too much weight: The higher your weight, the more oxygen, and nutrients will be needed to deliver blood to the tissues. The more blood flow in the blood vessels increases, the more pressure will be on the heart wall.

Not being physically active: People who are not physically active have higher heart rates. The higher the heart rate, the more effort the heart will put into each contraction and the more pressure will be on the arteries. Reduced physical activity also increases the risk of weight gain.

Using tobacco: Not only does smoking and chewing tobacco temporarily increase blood pressure, but the chemicals in tobacco destroy the inner lining of the artery wall. Due to which the arteries become narrow and the blood pressure increases. Second-hand smoking (coming in contact with a smoker) also increases blood pressure.

Deficiency of potassium in the diet: Potassium helps in balancing the sodium in our cells. If there is a deficiency of potassium in the diet, then the amount of sodium in the blood will increase.

Vitamin D deficiency in the diet: Vitamin D deficiency in the diet can increase blood pressure. Vitamin D deficiency will affect the enzyme produced by the kidney, which will increase the risk of increased blood pressure.

Excessive alcohol consumption: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage the heart. Drink alcohol in balance.

Stress: High tension causes permanent blood pressure. Do not overeat, nor consume tobacco and alcohol. This will increase your high BP problem.

Some chronic diseases: Some chronic diseases increase the risk of increased blood pressure, such as kidney disease, diabetes, difficulty breathing while sleeping.

Although high BP is common in adults, even small children are at risk of high BP. In some children, high BP is due to kidney and heart problems. But in growing children, poor lifestyle habits such as unhealthy diet, obesity, and lack of exercise lead to high BP.

Rescue - How can BP stop growing?

If you are at high risk of having high BP, you can adopt the following measures to reduce its severity and complications:

Eat healthily:

Include foods that make the heart-healthy in your diet gradually. Make the goal of eating small amounts of fruits and vegetables more than seven times a day, and in order to meet this goal, increase your food by one more time in the first two weeks. After the completion of two weeks, increase the food once more. Continue the process mentioned above until you consume fruits or vegetables ten times a day. (Read more - Balanced diet)

 

Eat less sugar:

Eat less sugar-rich foods such as yogurt with cereals, cereals (artificially added nutrient), and cold drinks. The quantity of sugar in many packaged foods is stated on the box. So be sure to read its label before eating this kind of food.

 

Lose weight:

Ask your doctor to set a healthy goal of losing weight. Many health institutions recommend losing 450 to 900 grams of weight in a week. For this, you start taking 500 calories less in your normal daily diet. After this, you should choose physical activities that lose weight. If you are having a lot of difficulty in exercising five days a week, in such a situation, start doing regular daily exercises by exercising only one day and increase it one by one in the same way. (Read more - Ways to lose weight)

 

Keep an eye on your blood pressure:

Early detection of high BP is a better option to reduce this problem and prevent its complication. For this, you can get a regular BP check done by a doctor or you can know the status of your BP at home by buying a machine that checks BP.

You should visit the doctor regularly to monitor the condition of BP. This helps the doctor identify other serious problems before they begin.

Testing - How is high BP checked?

High BP is very easy to test. If your BP is found to be increased, doctors recommend doing a BP test several times a week. High blood pressure is not tested by a one-time test. Doctors want to know whether the problem is persistent or not because sometimes the environment can also cause an increase in blood pressure and anyway BP levels to change throughout the day.

If your BP continues to increase, the doctor will perform further tests to find out the underlying conditions. These tests can be:

• Urine test
• Cholesterol screening
• ECG
• These tests help the doctor identify other possible causes of high BP.

During this time, doctors can start treating high BP. Early treatment can reduce the risk of major damage.

Automated machines can provide information about BP, but they may contain some errors. The test results from these machines depend on several factors, such as the correct band size and proper use of the machines.

Treatment - How is high BP treated?

High BP can be dangerous because it can cause diseases such as heart attack, heart failure, and kidney disease. The goal of treating high BP is to reduce high BP and protect your vital organs such as the brain, kidney, and heart from deteriorating. Research has found that treatment of high BP decreased by 35% –40% in stroke, 20% –25% in heart attack, and more than 50% in heart failure.

High BPs are now classified as:

• Blood pressure greater than 140/90 in people under 60 years
• Blood pressure greater than 150/90 in people over 60 years of age

To avoid high blood, you should make changes in your lifestyle such as eating a healthy diet, abstaining from smoking, exercising more. Medications are used to treat people who are less than 60 years of age and have a blood pressure of more than 140/90 and those who are older than 60 years and have a blood pressure of 150/90. Is greater.

High BP is treated with lifestyle changes and possibly drug therapy -

Medications for the treatment of high BP

There are many medicines available to cure high BP, some of which are:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme - ACE inhibitors
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers - ARBs
• Diuretics
• Beta-blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• Alpha-blockers
• Alpha-agonists
• Renin-inhibitors
• Combination drugs
• Often people who have high BP are advised to take diuretics first.

If you have any medical problems, then your doctor can start any other medicine besides diuretic medicine. For example, ACE inhibitors are given to people who have diabetes. If a medicine does not work then the medicine is increased or replaced.

If your blood pressure is 20/10 points higher than normal blood pressure, then your doctor will start your medicines with two medicines or combination medicines.

Warning: Do not take any medicines without asking the doctor.

Continuously checking high BP

After taking high BP medicines, you should visit your doctor at least once a month until your blood pressure is corrected. Once or twice a year your doctor checks the potassium in your blood (diuretic drugs lower it and ACE inhibitors and ARB medications increase it) and other electrolytes and BUN/creatinine to check your kidney health. I Will check to know the level.

Even if your blood pressure is correct, you should see your doctor every third to six months.

Lifestyle changes to cure high BP

A good lifestyle has an important role in curing high BP and preventing it from happening. You can reduce your high BP through the following lifestyle changes:

• If you are overweight then you lose weight immediately.
• Quit smoking
• Eat healthy foods that contain more fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products.
• If you have high BP, then reduce the amount of sodium in your diet by 1500 mg daily. Healthy adults should try not to consume more than 2300 mg of sodium per day (about a teaspoon of salt).
• Doing aerobic exercise daily (such as brisk walking for 30 minutes daily).
• Control of alcohol consumption
• Along with reducing blood pressure, all these remedies increase the effectiveness of high BP medicines.

Some other tips

Our improper lifestyle is the main cause of high blood pressure (high BP). Poor diet, lack of exercise, stress, etc. are the reasons for high blood pressure. The cure for this disease lies within the problem. You can control high blood pressure effectively by some changes in your diet and lifestyle. Here are some ways to change your diet and lifestyle to control high blood pressure. With the help of these, you can control your high blood pressure:

The right diet for high blood pressure

Diet plays an important role in the treatment of any disease. A proper diet can help control your high blood pressure. Whatever you are eating, take full care of it. You should chew your food slowly and eat it. Eat food at the right time. Avoid eating food late at night.

What should we eat -

You should limit the amount of salt in your whole day diet to 1500-2400 ml. You should try to eat vegetables in raw form only. Eat vegetarian in your diet, because eating a high protein diet will not be good for you. You should consume fruits like melon, orange, banana, apple, mango, pear, papaya, and pineapple which are very good for controlling high blood pressure. 

Consuming watermelon seeds is a powerful treatment for high blood pressure. Take cucumber, carrot, radish, cabbage, onion, and tomato as a salad in your diet, which will help you in controlling your high blood pressure. You should consume high amounts of magnesium, potassium, calcium, and fiber in your diet as it will help keep your heart healthy.

What not to eat -

Do not consume fatty food as it contains high cholesterol which can further increase your high blood pressure level. Meat and eggs should not be consumed. Avoid alcohol and smoking, alcohol can be consumed occasionally (but not more than two drinks). 

Smoking causes a rapid heartbeat, which increases blood pressure levels. Do not consume excessive amounts of spices, butter, ghee, pickle, tea, and coffee. Consuming more of these can aggravate your high blood pressure problem, so consume them only in small amounts. Avoid caffeine as it can further increase your blood pressure. Do not include baking soda in the diet.

 

Yoga and Exercise for High BP

Being overweight increases the weight on the heart, thus affecting the heart's function. Regular physical exercise not only keeps you healthy, it helps in keeping the body weight under control and it also helps in better blood circulation. But avoid exercising more. You walk for only 30 minutes; It will be beneficial for you. This will also help you to get the necessary vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency also leads to hypertension.

Practicing yoga asana will also be very beneficial for you. For this, you can do Yogasana like Dhanurasana, Tadasana, Vajrasana, Shalabhasana, and Bhujangasana. These are extremely beneficial in your high blood pressure problem. You can keep yourself relaxed by relaxation exercises like Pranayama and meditation. For high blood pressure patients, 90 minutes of daily light exercise such as walking, etc. is advised.

 

Reduce stress to reduce blood pressure

Staying away from stress is important for treating high blood pressure. Stress and grief can increase the problem of heart disease. So try to avoid stressful situations and keep yourself happy. For this, you can listen to music, do pranayama, or anything else that makes you happy.

Complications

High BP causes a lot of stress on the walls of our arteries. Which causes damage to our blood cells and organs present in our body. The higher the blood pressure, the more it will remain uncontrolled and the more damage will occur.

Having a high BP can cause the following things:

Heart attack -

• High BP causes our cells to become fat and hard, leading to heart attacks or other complications.

 

Aneurysm -

• High BP causes our cells to grow weak and outward, causing an aneurysm (excessive inflammation in the artery wall). Aneurysm breakdown can also lead to death.

 

Heart failure -

• By pumping blood against high pressure in our cells, our heart muscles become fat. Finally, thick muscles will have difficulty in meeting the needs of our body and will not be able to pump enough blood, which can cause heart failure.

 

Weak and narrowed blood cells in the kidneys -

• This causes your kidneys to not function properly.

 

Weak or narrowing of blood cells of the eyes:

• This can brighten the eyes.

 

Metabolic syndrome -

This symptom is a group of disorders associated with the metabolism of the body. For example - high waist, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as "good cholesterol"), high BP, high insulin levels. Such conditions can cause diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and heart attack.

 

Difficulty in understanding or remembering -

Uncontrolled high BP can affect your ability to think, remember, and learn. Memory problems are common in people with high BP.

Precautions - What precautions should be taken in high BP?

The following precautions are helpful in reducing high BP:

• Reduce the amount of sodium in the diet: People with high BP and those at risk of heart disease should limit their daily intake of sodium to 1,500 mg. The best way to do this is to eat food made at home. Avoid eating out-of-the-box or packaged foods as they often contain a high amount of sodium.
• Sweet foods and beverages do not contain nutrients but only calories. If you feel like eating something sweet, then eat fresh fruit.
• Reduce intake of dairy foods and meat with high amounts of sodium, saturated and trans fats.