Hypertension

Is Your Blood Pressure Under Control?

2011-12-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

About 74 million Americans have hypertension and 50 million more are estimated to have prehypertension (mild elevation in blood pressure). High blood pressure is easy to detect and it's almost always treatable, but too few people actually know they even have high blood pressure. That's why it's referred to as the "silent killer" because it typically produces no symptoms of its own. Did you know that HBP left undetected can seriously damage your heart? Even if you have prehypertension 120-139/80-89 the time to act is now. Education and prevention can keep you well...and perhaps even save your life.

The causes of prehypertension and hypertension are essentially the same:

Being overweight or obese

A lack of physical activity

Smoking

Gender does count - men are 30% more apt to have prehypertension

Age is a factor - usually by age 50

Genetics and race also make a difference

HBP often runs in families... African-Americans with prehypertension triple their risk of cardiovascular disease and for Caucasians it is doubled. For most of us; all we have to do is be proactive, move our bodies regularly, care about the way we look and feel and when necessary control our HBP with medication. It's not too complicated. Too many people rely on blood pressure medication though. You need to take a very active role in controlling and improving blood pressure that is skyrocketing and out of control.

Be proactive to avoid or reduce having high blood pressure early on and you will most definitely prosper. With so much at stake, is it that difficult to lose a few pounds? When you need help...there are plenty of trained professionals that will work with you and educate you to earn the desired results.

Other practical steps include: restricting salt intake (be sure to stay away from processed foods and learn how to read food labels), if you smoke...get some help and quit, exercise regularly- you will definitely feel better ( 30 minutes most days), drinking moderately (duh), and many like to follow the DASH diet which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

By all means, whatever you do, be sure to check your blood pressure regularly so you CAN do something about it. Don't be a statistic and let the "silent killer" get you. Take good care of yourself so you can stay around and let your family and friends enjoy you... while you enjoy them! I heard a great comment today... "Enjoy the value of each day."

You Can Lower Risk of Stroke With Hypertension Medications - 4 Facts

2011-12-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

If you have more than normal BP and are at a risk of hypertension, you are exposed to a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. Latest research in this field indicates that risk of stroke can be greatly reduced by taking pills that are prescribed for lowering BP.

If systolic blood pressure is between 120 and 139 and diastolic between 80 and 89, you suffer from beginning stages of hypertension. You are said to have high BP if the reading is 140/90 mm Hg or higher.

Stroke occurs when blood supply to one or more areas of the brain stops temporarily. When oxygen supply to the brain stops even for a few seconds, serious complications arise. If blood pressure is high, blood vessels narrow due to build up in arteries.

High blood pressure can also break fatty deposits which in turn block the blood vessels supplying oxygen to the brain. Artery walls in those who suffer from high BP may become thick or weak. This impedes flow of blood to the brain due to rupture of blood vessel. The higher your BP is, the higher your risk of stroke is.

Some of the common symptoms of stroke include weakness and fatigue, trouble understanding conversations, unexplained mood change and confusion, headache, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. If you suffer from hypertension, it is recommended not to ignore any of these symptoms as stroke is a potentially life threatening emergency.

Here are a few facts on how you can lower risk of stroke with hypertension medications -

   1. Before prescribing medications, dietary changes may be advocated by your doctor to treat hypertension. According to experts, medications are expensive and may not be affordable for many on a regular basis. So, some doctors do not jump into prescribing medications at the first instant.

   2. If the patient has a history of mini-stroke, diabetes or heart disease, these factors may tip the scales in favor of medications. Many doctors feel that there is no need to wait for the condition to worse as treating hypertension with medications at the onset is a sure way of preventing stroke and other related conditions.

   3. At least 16 studies have been conducted recently with more than 70,000 people suffering from hypertension. They were treated with a placebo or BP medications. Results showed that those who were put on medications that lowered BP were 22 percent less likely to have a stroke as compared to those who were advocated only lifestyle changes.

   4. The latest approach is to try to bring BP under control through lifestyle changes for a while before starting on medications for those who do not have any other ailments or habits such as high cholesterol or smoking.

Stressed: We All Are - We Just Don't Know It

2011-11-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

We live in a world where we are trying to be who we are not. When we live like*this our life is all about survival. We are constantly on the look-out for something that may mean danger.

Imagine an animal that senses danger. Its body instantly goes into a state of "active alert" where survival is all that matters. It switches to the sympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system where it is flooded with adrenaline in preparation for a fight or flight situation. At this point the single goal of the body is to defend itself and the full impact of the body's energy resources is focused on the limbs; the legs in order to flee and in the case of humans, the arms and hands as well. This means that the natural functions of the body, carried out by the parasympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system, are suspended for that period of time.

In the pressurised, money oriented world we live in where stress is almost a requirement for success, the body has no chance to be calm, settled and functioning as it should. If we could listen to the subtle signs from the body we would notice a decline in our health long before it became chronic. The body is remarkable; it can survive a long time in a state where it is not properly nourished or listened to. Even living for long periods in the survival mode, just at the point of utter depletion, the lungs are forced to take a breath in order to oxygenate the blood and keep the heart beating. This can only continue for so long. Inevitably we get sick as the body is continually depleted of nutrients and oxygen. We become a haven for parasites and many other conditions.

While the body is "active alert" it remains clenched and rigid. It is not relaxed. What happens with this rigidity in the brain? Eventually protein fragments known as beta amyloids create hard, insoluble plaques between the neurons (nerve cells) of the brain. This prevents the proper functioning of the brain which can no longer assimilate the nutrients required to stay healthy.

The resulting condition is known as Alzheimer's disease. What about these hard plaques which build up in nerve cells throughout the body? They cause heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and any other disease connected with the nervous system. This is what happens to our body when we flood it with adrenaline, and cannot release the trauma. If we have managed to avoid the diabetes and heart disease which precede the Alzheimer's, eventually we will succumb in our old age to Alzheimer's disease. Unless we start working at this deep root cause level.

The sooner we can start to heal and balance the nervous system, the less likely we are to degenerate. Side effects of the whole picture I have described above are cancers which occur as the body becomes weaker; commonly when conditions such as candida and constipation are allowed to flourish unchecked. Parasites, always opportunistic invaders, enter the weakened or stressed body and mask themselves as the symptoms of numerous diseases.

What can you do now?

Are you in a job that you love?

Do you worry about feeding and taking care of a family?

Are you trying to maintain a lifestyle that you believe that you like but is actually doing you more harm than good?

What would happen if you changed what you earned your money doing, to doing something that you loved?

Are you willing to "downsize"?

We are all the victims of inherited patterns that no longer serve us. Sometimes we have no idea what these patterns are, but it is these old patterns that are keeping us in "active alert".

If you want to know more about your old patterns and how just to be yourself for the rest of your life you need to explore your genetic type and see if you are living the correct life for that type. Are you eating correctly? Are you sleeping correctly? Are you in the environment that suits you best?

You also need to make sure that your adrenals can learn to settle. Most of us only know that place of being in "active alert" and have no idea how to live "in the body".

5 Ideas to Avoid Sweetened Sugar Drinks for Avoiding High Blood Pressure

2011-11-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

There's no doubt that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has skyrocketed in recent decades, particularly in the United States. What was once an occasional treat has become a normal part of the diet for many in the U.S., with some estimates as high as 8% of daily calories coming from soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages.

There is increasing evidence overconsumption of these drinks is associated with weight gain, insulin resistance, and diabetes. Many studies have shown that drinking sugary drinks doesn't depress the appetite as much as food containing the same number of calories.

Sugar-sweetened soda, fruit drinks, sweetened iced teas, and other beverages with added sugar usually contain about 6 or 7 teaspoons of sugar in each cup of drink. A 12 oz. can of regular (not diet) soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar in it. This is about the same as the total added sugars the USDA recommends that the average person consume in a whole day. People with diabetes and related disorders should almost certainly consume much less.

There are a lot of ingredients which mean "sugar" - everything from high fructose corn syrup to "evaporated cane juice". Most of them are about half fructose and half glucose. Fructose in an of itself may be related to such problems as weight gain, high blood triglycerides, and diabetes. Added sugars are in most processed foods, from obviously sweet foods (cookies, candies, etc.) to ketchup to crackers. However, it's hard to think of any other food that will deliver as much sugar to our bodies as quickly as sugary drinks.

Downing just one sugar-laden drink a day may result in high blood pressure.
Harvard researchers found that women who drank one or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day were 83% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women who drank less than one a month.

A new study by UK and US researchers found that blood pressure is pushed up by every extra sugar-sweetened drink we down a day. The Harvard School of Public Health offers these ideas for low an no-sugar drinks:

1. Infused water

You can easily buy flavored water, but it's just as simple to make your own by adding citrus fruits, ginger or fresh mint to a jug of water

2. Tea

Black or green, hot or cold, tea is an excellent sugar-free beverage. Try fruit-flavoured herbal, teas, or teas with cinnamon, vanilla or other sweet spices

3. Sparkling juice

Make your own with 350ml of sparkling water and 40ml of juice. For a flavour boost, add sliced citrus or fresh herbs.

4. Fresh fruit coolers

Smoothies are marketed as "health" foods, but they're loaded with sugar. Instead, make a refreshing fresh fruit cooler; blend ice, sparkling water and melon or berries until slushy. Garnish with mint or citrus slices.

5. Low sodium broth

There's no rule that says we must satisfy our thirst with something sweet. A low-sodium variety of miso soup can be a satisfying way to give your body the fluid it needs.

5 Frequently Asked Questions About Angina Pectoris

2011-11-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

Angina Pectoris (Latin for squeezing of the chest) is a condition where the sufferer feels discomfort around his chest which manifests as the squeezing, burning, choking, tightness, heaviness, or pressure sensation. Sometimes, the sensations can be felt in other body parts including the jaw, shoulders, neck, or back. What causes angina, how great is your chance of getting the disease, and what is the best treatment for the illness? Read five frequently asked questions below to satisfy your inquiries about the disease.

What causes angina?

Commonly, angina pectoris is caused by coronary artery disease. As cholesterol plaque narrows the coronary arteries, the buildup blocks the supply of blood oxygen towards the heart muscle during exercise or stress. This lack of oxygen to the heart muscles triggers the chest pain or angina. Other less common cause of the disease is the coronary artery spasm. When the muscle fibers of the artery walls contract rapidly, the spasm reduces the blood supply to the heart muscle thus causing angina.

Who are most likely to suffer from angina?

People who are at high risk of chest pain are men above 55 years old and women around 65 years old. Other factors which heighten your risk of the disease are cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, kidney disease, obesity, inactive life, diabetes mellitus, high cholesterol levels, and family history of premature cardiovascular disease.

What are the types of angina pectoris?

The disease is divided into two types; the chronic stable and the unstable anginas.

- Chronic stable angina occurs typically when your heart needs more oxygen during exercise or stress. The pain will lessen when you are taking a rest.

- Unstable angina can occur at anytime and will not lessen even when you are resting. This type of chest pain is dangerous and can be the symptom of more serious health problem such as heart attack.

How to treat the disease?

Chronic stable angina can be treated with resting and medications such as nitroglycerin (either tablet or spray), beta blockers (i.e. acebutolol, atenolol, bisoprolol, metoprolol, nadolol, propanolol, and timolol), calcium channel blockers (i.e. amlodipine, bepridil, diltiazem, felodipine, isradipine, nicardipine, nifedipine, nimodipine, nisoldipine, and verapamil), or ranolazine (ranexa). If you are diagnosed with unstable angina, you need to visit your physician to get the right treatment for the problem.

How to prevent angina?

The best way to prevent the disease is by changing your lifestyle. You can start doing it today by:

- Stopping cigarette smoking,
- Eating healthy diet which contains low saturated fat, high fiber, and lots of fruits and vegetables,
- Exercising regularly,
- Avoiding stress,
- Maintaining normal weight, and
- Treating conditions which can increase your chance of getting the symptom such as diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels.

Alcohol And Its Effect On People With High Blood Pressure

2011-11-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hypertension affects millions of people around the world, and drinking alcohol can make the problem worse. Alcohol raises blood pressure in healthy people, but if your levels are raised to start with, it only makes the problem worse.

Generally, women have a lower tolerance to alcohol than men, and are advised to stick to one alcoholic drink a day to stay within safe limits. If more alcohol than this is drunk, then it will have an effect on the blood vessels and arteries which can raise blood pressure to unsafe levels.

Both men and women must ensure they stick to safe levels of drinking - if they don't then GPs will often note their blood pressure readings on a regular basis. The blood pressure can also be raised by the extra weight which is gained from the calories in the alcohol. This can lead to extra medication being prescribed to help manage the problem. If a patient is taking blood pressure medication, then any alcohol which is drunk can have a negative effect on the prescribed medication.

It is common sense, therefore, to reduce or cut out alcohol. If you can't stop drinking completely, then try to reduce your intake to a minimum. A good tip is to make sure you're not drinking every day. Alcohol and hypertension medication don't mix well, and drinking should really be avoided if possible so as not to affect the medication, otherwise complications can occur.

If you are drinking more than is sensible, then it would make sense for you to seek help for your addiction to alcohol. If your GP says you should cut out drinking when taking your medication, then you need to listen to this advice. You must realize that if you don't take this advice, then your health problems will not improve, and will only get worse. There is a great deal of help available to help you reduce your alcohol consumption.

You may not want, or indeed need, to reduce the amount you drink to zero, but anything you can do to moderate your drinking will benefit your health greatly, particularly if you have a raised level of blood pressure, and are on medication to help reduce it. The benefits gained from just losing a few pounds in weight from the alcohol you won't be drinking will help your health enormously, and will make you feel better as well.

Combating Hypertension Naturally

2011-10-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hypertension puts numerous Americans at risk for heart failure, kidney failure and stroke; but what's more disturbing is the fact that many don't even know they have it. High blood pressure often occurs without any warning signs. That said, when it is diagnosed, patients are usually treated with prescribed medications that come with a host of undesirable side-effects, such as dizziness and dehydration. Fortunately, most people can control their hypertension naturally by making lifestyle changes that include regular exercise and eating the right types of food.

What is hypertension?

Put simply: your blood pressure is the force or pressure your blood applies to your artery walls. Every single time your heart beats, it flushes blood into your arteries. The pressure is greatest when the heart is pumping blood (systolic pressure), and the pressure is lowest between each heart beat (diastolic pressure).

What should my reading be?

When you go to the doctor's office, a nurse usually takes your blood pressure by testing both your systolic and diastolic pressures. Most often, one is placed over the other to provide a general "reading."

If your reading rests at 120/80 or lower, you are said to have normal pressure; if it is above 140/90, your pressure is considered high; if your systolic pressure falls between 120 and 139 and/or your diastolic pressure falls between 80 and 89, you may have prehypertension.

What can I do?

Although many consider hypertension to be a disease, it is actually a symptom of a greater problem. To get more oxygen to our organs and muscles, our bodies increase blood pressure when necessary. Often, this is prompted by poor lifestyle habits that negatively affect our overall health. If you want to lower your blood pressure naturally, you should reduce your body mass, eat a better diet and exercise more. That said, not everyone knows what they should and shouldn't be eating.

If you've got hypertension, you should stop eating or substantially limit your consumption of fast food, processed food, junk food, sodas, sugar and unhealthy oils. Not only do these foods clog your vasculature, they promote weight gain, which ultimately increases blood pressure. You can also reduce hypertension by eating foods and herbs that naturally reduce hypertension. These include, bananas, cinnamon and garlic. There are also some very good all-natural dietary supplements available at your local health food store; however, before you take any type of herb, you should consult a physician.

Blood Pressure Warning

2011-10-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hypertension, more commonly referred to as "high blood pressure", has earned the nickname "silent killer" due to its lack of presenting symptoms. Most people that are affected by hypertension do not demonstrate physical signs and symptoms until damage has occurred.

What is Hypertension?

A person's blood pressure gives the physician a clinical picture of the patient's cardiovascular status. It measures the amount of resistance exerted on the blood vessel walls and is related to changes in cardiac output or a change in peripheral vascular resistance (the blood vessels that run throughout the body). The physician examines the blood pressure by looking at the values of the systolic (the top number) and the diastolic (the bottom number) measurements. A patient is diagnosed with hypertension if their blood pressure is 140/90 or greater at three consecutive visits to the doctor. The reason the first visit is not always used is because some people experience "White Coat" hypertension. Just visiting the physician's office causes anxiety and an elevation in the blood pressure readings. The normal range can be between 100/60 to 139/89 depending on the person and their physical make-up. However, a patient may be diagnosed as pre-hypertensive if the blood pressure is 130/80. Remember, the physician will conduct a thorough exam to determine the course of action.

What Factors Can Cause Hypertension

Uncontrollable factors:

Narrowing of the arteries in the kidneys and acute kidney disease
Some medications
Pregnancy
Diabetes
Age (55 and older for men; 60 and older for women. But hypertension can occur at younger ages)

Controllable factors:

Smoking
Stress/anxiety
Obesity- BMI ≥ 30
Sedentary lifestyles
Complications of hypertension

Long term hypertension can lead to heart disease, stroke and chronic kidney disease. Untreated hypertensive episodes can lead to death.

Treatment

Treatment is determined by your physician who will also perform a complete physical exam and make a decision on the best course of action. Treatment is based on individual situations. Treatment is determined by such factors as severity of disease, other additional illnesses, age, sex, weight, and race. Often the first medication is a vasodilator to help dilate the blood vessels and decrease resistance. Another consideration is a diuretic that will decrease circulating fluid volume.

How You Reduce Risk Factors?

Weight reduction - a healthy BMI between 18.5 - 24.9

Adopt the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) eating plan - The diet consist of fruit, vegetables, low fat dairy products, reduced saturated fats and total fats. Cut out fried fatty foods from the diet. Also consume low sodium (salt) food items and monitor the sodium content of food. Read labels.

Physical activity - engage in regular physical aerobic activity such as a brisk walk (at least 30 minutes/day most days of the week).

Moderation of alcohol - limit to 2 drinks for most men; 1 drink for most women (1 drink = 24 oz. beer, 10 oz. of wine, and 3 oz. of 80 proof whiskey).

The Two Types Of Blood Pressure

2011-10-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

High blood pressure affects millions of Americans. These individuals have to deal with many of the problems that can occur because of this disease. High blood pressure makes the heart pump blood throughout the body faster than normal. This is dangerous because it forces the heart to work harder than it should. It also causes the arteries to harden.

Even today, the exact triggers for hypertension are not one hundred percent known. However, there are many common factors that are believed to contribute to the disease. These include smoking cigarettes, being overweight or morbidly obese, a lack of physical activity or exercise, having too much sodium in your diet, consuming too much alcohol, high levels of stress, old age, a history of kidney disease, and having family members with hypertension.

There are two types of elevated pressure of the blood - essential and secondary.

Most individuals in the United States suffer from what is known as essential hypertension. Medical literature usually defines this as having blood pressure that is consistently higher than the average but that cannot be explained by a single cause.

What makes the underlying cause so difficult to pinpoint precisely is that most individuals who are diagnosed with this condition will actually have several risk factors that contribute to their problem.

What we do know is that high blood pressure tends to run in families. Genetic tests have also shown that men are more likely than women to suffer from hypertension. Men whose father and grandfather had high pressure are more likely to have essential hypertension. African American males are the highest risk group for hypertension.

We also know that sodium is an important component of high blood pressure. We know this because the degree of essential hypertension usually lessens when individuals decrease the amount of salt in their diet. This is particularly true for salt sensitive patients where any amount of sodium that is above what their body needs to function can cause their pressure to rise.

Secondary hypertension affects a much smaller part of the population - probably less than six percent overall. It is normally diagnosed when it can be linked to a specific medical condition. For example, there is a direct correlation between developing kidney disease and developing high blood pressure. The same is true for anyone afflicted with Cushing's disease. In these cases, when the underlying cause of the primary disease can be successfully treated, the hypertension will go away as well.

High Blood Pressure Medication Types and What They Do

2011-10-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Medical conditions such as hypertension should never be ignored. Your overall health depends on how your body processes what you eat, as well as your genetic predisposition to certain health problems. High blood pressure medication is designed to help lower your blood pressure and maintain a healthy pressure within your veins.

Hypertension is characterized by a systolic reading of 160 or higher and diastolic reading of 100 or more. The systolic reading is measured when the heart is contracting; the diastolic reading is measured during the period of relaxation between contractions. Hypertension is damaging to the body's vital organs such as the heart, and veins as well.

Four of the most common drugs for hypertension include beta blockers, ace inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and angiotensin receptor blockers. Each of these high blood pressure meds works slightly differently based on the patient's needs.

Beta blockers, most commonly used, reduce the signals received by blood vessels, the heart, and nervous system. These agents block adrenergic receptors, which help mediate the fight or flight response. That single effort helps reduce the effects of hypertension.

ACE inhibitors keep vessels in a more relaxed state by reducing the amount of hormone that causes them to contract. Also used to treat congestive heart failure, this medicine was originally created from compounds found in pit viper venom.

Calcium channel blockers prevent calcium from entering the cells of the heart and vessels, allowing the vessels to relax. This type of blocker is used to treat migraines and Raynaud's disease as well as hypertension. Calcium channel blockers are rarely used long-term due to long-term side effects.

Angiotensin receptor blockers prevent angiotensin from affecting vessels, allowing them to expand more freely. Primary uses include hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, and congestive heart failure.

Each of those high blood pressure meds help in very specific ways. Many people choose not to use conventional medications in lieu of natural remedies. Hypertension symptoms and risks should always be discussed with your doctor. Never self medicate without discussing options with your primary care physician.

Symptoms of hypertension include headache, fuzzy vision, lightheadedness, and queasiness or vomiting. Many of those symptoms are also connected to other medical problems and should be discussed with a doctor before pursuing treatment.

The causes of hypertension greatly vary from person to person. Some people are simply genetically predisposed. No matter how healthy they live their life, they suffer with hypertension. Just because your parents have hypertension, doesn't mean you will; just that you could.

Obesity, age and gender also play varying roles in your chances of being hypertensive. Some treatments for other diseases may trigger hypertension. An unhealthy lifestyle, excessive alcohol and cigarette smoking are contributors to high blood pressure.

Many of today's natural remedies are designed to work alone to maintain a healthy blood pressure or in conjunction with high blood pressure medication to ensure a healthy body. Maintaining a healthy blood flow is essential to overall health and well-being.

Maintenance of a healthy body means choosing healthy alternatives to unhealthy meals and choices. The choice to become healthy and maintain that healthy lifestyle is a big undertaking. Sometimes maintaining a healthy body means taking blood pressure medication and changing an unhealthy lifestyle.