A person’s lifestyle is the key to his health. Today, most people are living high-pressured and ultra-fast lives. When the body is constantly subjected to such severe routines, it is bound to suffer from various maladies. This is why there is an increase in stress related diseases, one of them being hypertension. Unfortunately, most people do not even consider it as a serious disease. They do not realise that its seriousness arises from the fact that it harms the body silently. Hypertensive people keep on living their stressful lives for years without experiencing any symptoms.

According to a report by the American Heart Association, in United States only, a third of all adults suffer from high blood pressure.

Causes:

A problem with diagnosing this disease is that its root cause remains unidentified in most cases. However, there are some general factors that can contribute in making a person hypertensive.

1. Stress: Many medical problems have their origin in stress. A person, who is constantly stressed, is understandably at a risk of developing various diseases including hypertension.

1. Age factor: It is a natural progression of things that as people get older, their bodies become more worn and torn. Thus, older people are at a higher risk of developing blood pressure problems.

1. Lack of exercise: People are so busy in their work that they neglect physical activity. Even when they want to relax, they will opt for pastimes that include sitting and an electronic gadget. Physical activity is important because it regulates heart rate and helps it to pump at a normal speed.

1. Obesity: Lack of exercise will eventually lead to increase in weight. Excessive weight puts more pressure on the artery walls because more oxygen needs to be produced and more nutrients need to be distributed in an obese body.

1. Smoking and drinking: Tobacco and cigarettes contain chemicals that are harmful for the walls of arteries. Heavy drinkers are also at risk of developing heart diseases.

1. Underlying conditions: Some conditions as thyroid disease, kidney problems, hormonal disorders or use of oral contraceptives act as underlying causes of heart disease. High blood pressure caused due to such underlying conditions is called secondary hypertension.

1. Heredity: The inheritance factor is not in anyone’s control. People who have heart disease history in their families need to be extra careful and adopt preventive lifestyles.

Symptoms:

Patients may experience dizzy spells, nosebleed and headache as the condition worsens. At the early stages of high blood pressure, there are hardly any signs.

Remedies:

In order to deal with high blood pressure, patients need to work at changing their lifestyles in a major way. This means that they have to modify their diet and include regular exercise in their routine. Hypertensive patients need to cut down on their sodium intake.

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans and low-fat products are good for maintaining blood pressure. Specifically, fish oil, garlic and folic acid can be important ingredients of their diet. The DHA (docohexaenoic acid) content in fish supplements helps in fighting against this disease. Garlic’s powers as an effective reducer of systolic and diastolic pressure have been studied in many researches. But patients are warned to consult their doctors before taking garlic supplements, especially when the patient is taking other drugs or supplements. In order to lower blood pressure, folic acid can be an effective means as it increases the homocysteine levels.

Physical exercise also helps in reducing high blood pressure. These days, there are different yoga and relaxation techniques that can be followed as they are designed specially for lowering high blood pressure. The most tried form of exercise, however, remains brisk walking.

If a patient of hypertension manages to incorporate all these natural remedies in his lifestyle, he may succeed in controlling his blood pressure without any drugs.

Your Comments

Click here to add a comment

Name:


Location:


Email:


Comment:




Please enter the Captcha code:

simon kariuki from nairobi

your information is of great help

have hypertension diagnosed five years ago and recommended by the doctor to try control it through change of lifestyle . i have had some strain pain below the ribs on my left side for the last six years and becomes serious at night forcing me take pain killers.
have visited several doctors and tests done yield nothing

was put on hypertension medication a month a go and the pain still persists what could be the problem.
please assist

Posted at 4:57:am 05/17/12