High blood pressure (Hypertension)

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 Hypertension is a situation that causes pressure on global health but isn’t addressed as well as it should be; 46% of people affected by High blood pressure aren’t even aware they have it, which is why this short post aims to shed some light on the topic, and so

What is blood pressure?

·         Pressure in a mathematical sense is the force exerted per unit area, and it's not different in a medical sense. Blood pressure is the force your blood exerts over your artery walls. The normal blood pressure is 120/80mmHg for a person; anything above 140 systolic (heart contraction when it pumps blood) pressure and 90 diastolic(heart relaxation when it doesn’t pump blood) pressure is considered to be in the high range.

What causes high blood pressure?

·         Many risk factors are associated with hypertension, including age, lifestyle choices, and genetic factors.

Age: Old age in individuals causes the walls of the arterial blood vessels to thicken up causing the blood to have a hard time passing through; This, in turn, increases the pressure of the blood. That’s why people in the 30-79 age range are the highest demographic group affected by hypertension.

Genetic factors:  genes are units that pass hereditary traits from parents to offspring. Many times hypertension is carried in the family and gets passed from parents via genes. The likelihood of hypertension getting passed to children is 50% if both parents have high blood pressure. Moreover new research has discovered that over 500 genes in the human body are associated with blood pressure control and regulation.

Lifestyle choices:

Lifestyle choices and environmental factors play a huge role in putting an individual at risk for hypertension. Some of them include:

·         Overconsumption of alcohol

·         Obesity (low physical activity)

·         Experiencing high stress situations

·         High salt intake (unregulated diet)

·         Smoking

·         Air and water pollution (in case any coagulants are in them)

It's important to note that blood pressure on its own might be maintainable, but it puts individuals at risk for other problems like heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline, ruptured blood vessels, and kidney failure.

Treatment?

·         Quitting smoking

·         Quitting alcohol and tobacco

·         Losing extra weight and maintaining an active lifestyle

·         Eating a regulated and or prescribed diet (like the DASH diet) and avoiding salty, fried foods

·         Prescription drugs

·         Reduced stress

If you feel the symptoms of high blood pressure(which means hypertension has reached a dangerous stage) please visit a doctor; getting regular screenings and checkups is also recommended to keep you blood pressure under bay.

 


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