Archive for the ‘Blood pressure information’ Category
When someone talks of blood pressure problems, in most cases they refer to issues of high blood pressure. But low blood pressure is also a fairly common condition and it needs attention.
What are the causes of low blood pressure? It turns out there are quite a few of them.
Unearthing the causes of hypotension is important because they have to be dealt with before treating the clinical conditions of low blood pressure.
Anti-hypertensive drugs are one possible cause. If someone with high blood pressure continues to take such drugs without adequate supervision, it can result in a buildup of the drug in the body which can cause blood pressure to drop below acceptable levels.
That is why patients on beta-blockers must be monitored closely to ensure that they do not end up with adverse effects like hypotension.
Diuretic medications can cause this problem if the drugs are overused. In fact, they can lower blood pressure to dangerous levels if not taken correctly.
Cardiac problems can, of course, cause low blood pressure. Problems like tricuspid regurgitation, which is a valve-related issue, can result in the condition.
Traumas such as severe burns can lower blood pressure drastically. Burns affect the permeability of blood vessels which triggers the problem. Heat stroke is another possible cause of lowered pressure because it disrupts the fluid mechanism in the body.
Inflammation to organs like the pancreas may result in hypotension. So can respiratory problems like pneumothorax, as well as dysentery and other severe gastro intestinal problems.
Patients on nitrate medication may have a tendency to suffer from this condition. This is particularly true if they consume alcohol. For this reason, doctors usually advice against alcohol consumption when the patient takes nitrate drugs.
In reality, what constitutes low blood pressure often depends on the patient. There is a fine line between healthy low pressure and clinical hypotension.
As you can see, there are many possible causes of low blood pressure. Your health care giver’s judgment is crucial in deciding if you have hypotension and what treatment it requires.
A wine and cheese party can be a fun way to relax and make new friends. It’s also a great way to lower your blood pressure.
Cheese and wine parties are great for large get-togethers. Make it lots of fun by having every guest bring a bottle of wine and an exotic cheese. It’s a fantastic way to try new wines and cheeses … and a perfect conversation starter.
A cheese and wine party is also the perfect way to relax … both yourself and your arteries. Wine is good for lowering blood pressure … and so is cheese.
A Glass of Red Wine
Red wine contains a protective antioxidant — the flavonol called resveratrol. This powerful antioxidant protects your arteries against the damage done by free radicals … and helps prevent hardening of your arteries.
The flavonoid in red wine also keeps your blood platelets from clumping together … stopping this first step in the formation of deadly blood clots. A glass of red wine keeps your blood flowing smoothly through your arteries.
Even more important for your blood pressure … recent studies have shown that drinking red wine improves the function of your artery linings. When the linings of your arteries are working well … they freely dilate and bring down your blood pressure.
A glass or two of red wine a day … this is the perfect amount to keep your heart and arteries young — and keep your blood pressure normal. The darker the red wine … the better. Dark red wines are higher in the protective resveratrol flavonoid. Forget about white wines … they pale by comparison.
A Wedge of Cheese
Although cheese has lots of saturated fat and can raise cholesterol levels … a little cheese is good for you. Like red wine, cheese is good for you if eaten in moderation.
During the cheese making process, while the milk is fermenting … peptides are released from the milk proteins. These peptides help control your blood pressure … by inhibiting the enzymes that convert angiotensin.
When the protein angiotensin is converted into angiotensin II. Angiotensin II is a peptide that constricts your arteries and increases the retention of water and sodium. This whole process really pumps up your blood pressure.
The other peptides — found in fermented milk products like cheese — put a stop to this reaction that ups the blood pressure. Eating a small wedge of cheese blocks the enzyme that creates angiotensin II, keeps your arteries relaxed, and keeps your blood pressure down.
Relax With a Glass of Shiraz and a Slice of Gruyere
After a hard day at the office … when tension has got your blood pressure creeping up … enjoy some nice cheeses with a glass of red wine. Relax … relax your arteries … bring your blood pressure back down to normal. Your heart will love you for it.
High blood pressure is a major health problem that affects many people - a lot of which don’t even realize that they have it. Often, people are told that changes in their diet and exercise habits are enough to control blood pressure, without the use of medication. This is especially helpful for people with mild to moderate blood pressure levels.
Reducing your sodium intake is one of the most important factors in reducing your blood pressure level. Those affected with high blood pressure often claim that reducing their sodium intake reduces their blood pressure as well. It is important to learn which foods are high in sodium and limit your intake or avoid them all together.
Eating more fruits and vegetables and even some grains increases your intake of important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Studies suggest that people with a diet high in these foods and low in fats can reduce blood pressure in a small, but significant way.
Adding exercise to this change in diet can improve the blood pressure reduction. It helps to prevent and to control hypertension, and it is said that people who are active in exercise have lower death rates than their sedentary counterparts, even when they have the same blood pressure. An added bonus is that studies suggest that exercise not only reduces the risk for cardiovascular and other diseases, but can help prevent obesity, which is another high blood pressure risk factor.
Exercise is said to be the foundation for successful behavioral change programs. Exercise has been shown to make people feel positive about themselves and helps to reduce stress, a factor that not only raises blood pressure, but makes you feel less inclined to stick to the positive plans you’ve set in motion.
Eating well and exercising are the cornerstone to reducing your blood pressure level. However, they are not the only factors to a successful blood pressure reduction. Limiting your alcohol and caffeine intake can make an extreme difference. You should strive to drink these things only in moderation, or not at all. If you smoke, quitting can also make a profound difference. These are not things to be taken lightly. You may find that you cannot simply give these things up. In fact, in order to completely rid yourself of these behaviors can take months, even a year or more in some instances!
Reducing stress is another highly important factor in reducing your blood pressure. This is a lifelong task, but can prove to be one of the most important things you can do for your health. If you find that you have stress that seems out of control, taking a stress management workshop may be in your future.
Though it is said that diet and exercise can reduce the need for blood pressure medication, it is important to discuss any and all lifestyle changes with your doctor, who can instruct you in any reduction of your current medication dosages.
Hypertension is not only a condition for adults but it can also affect children, kids and even infants. When you see high blood pressure in children, the basic cause is either heart or Kidney. But it has been seen that children do have high blood pressure even though they have no heart or kidney problem but there’s a family history of high blood pressure and an unhealthy lifestyle - a bad diet, excess weight, stress, and insufficient physical activity.
Though it is estimated that 4.5% of kids have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is very common among adults but it is also increasing in children these days, a trend that researchers link to the increase in childhood obesity.
The only way to know whether your kid has hypertension is to get it checked regularly. Doctors usually start measuring blood pressure during routine check-ups when a child is about 3 years old.If it remains untreated, high blood pressure can eventually lead to damage to the heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes. But if it’s caught early, monitored, and treated, a child with high blood pressure can have an active, normal life.
Long-Term Complications of High Blood Pressure
When a kid has high blood pressure, the heart and arteries have a much heavier workload. Heart has to work against great force, The heart must pump harder and the arteries are under greater strain as they carry blood. If high blood pressure continues for a long time, the heart and arteries may no longer work as well as they should. Having high blood pressure puts a child at a higher risk for stroke TIA, CVA, heart attack, kidney failure, loss of vision, and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
Though child may not show symptoms of high blood pressure, it still affects the body and puts the child at risk for those long-term health problems. In rare cases, severe hypertension can cause headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds, heart palpitations, visual changes and nausea. If your child has severe high blood pressure and experiences any of these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.
When you go to a doctor with your children, It’s not unusual for a first blood pressure reading to be high because the child is nervous, so the doctor will likely take three or four readings - and use an average to determine whether your child has high blood pressure or is at risk for developing hypertension.
Causes of High Blood Pressure
The causes of high blood pressure differ, depending on the age of the child. The younger the child, the more likely the high blood pressure is due to some other condition. High blood pressure among infants most commonly occurs in premature babies. Some newborns have high blood pressure because of problems with the heart, or vascular system, kidneys and lungs. Often, these problems are due to bronchopulmonary dysplasia, an immaturity of the lungs in premature babies, or problems of vessels like coarctation of the aorta, a narrowing of part of the major blood vessel that transports blood away from the heart to the body parts. Among school-age kids and teens, hypertension is usually linked to obesity. Over weight is very common among school age children these days. In some cases it’s due to a problem with the kidneys, although other conditions - like abnormalities in the blood vessels and hormonal disorders - can also be responsible. Some medications (such as steroids or oral contraceptives) can lead to high blood pressure, as can over consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs.
Diagnosing Hypertension in Children
As high blood pressure usually doesn’t produce any symptoms, diagnosing the condition in children can be difficult. The only reliable way to find out if your kid has high blood pressure is to have it regularly measured at routine check ups. So it’s important not to miss those appointments, particularly if your child is obese or if there’s a family history of hypertension. There is also a new test called ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in which a child wears a blood pressure cuff all day. Some consider it more accurate than blood pressure tests in the doctor’s office because the child is less likely to be affected by any stress from visiting the doctor and blood pressure is monitored over a considerable period.
Treating High Blood Pressure
If an underlying illness is causing hypertension, treating that illness may be enough to get the blood pressure back to normal levels. For example treating coarctation of aorta can significantly improve blood pressure. If there’s no underlying illness, your child’s doctor will try to control Blood pressure with natural measures and he may recommend weight loss, increased intake of fruits and vegetables, decreased salt intake, increased exercise, and even relaxation techniques. Kids with hypertension should also quit or never start smoking, which can worsen the long-term associated heart problems as smoking is one of major risk factor for heart attack. Most doctors prefer not to prescribe medication for children with mild hypertension. However, in cases in which lifestyle changes do not improve the condition, then doctor may give medication .
Doing Exercise and participation in organized sports is encouraged for all children whose hypertension is not severe or is well-controlled. In fact, staying fit is the key to both weight and blood pressure control. If your kid is overweight, an ongoing weight-loss program monitored by your child’s doctor and a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day may play very important role in controlling blood pressure. Kids who have severe hypertension should not, however, participate in weight- and power-lifting, bodybuilding, or strength training until their blood pressure is under control and a doctor OKs it.
Remember, earlier you get high blood pressure, earlier you will face its complications. So try to control your blood pressure with in normal limits to stay healthy and enjoy normal life.
If you want to know more about High Blood Pressure in children Visit our website.
A lonely heart could just be one of the important factors that causes high blood pressure. In fact, a recent study shows loneliness can be as bad for your heart as being over weight or inactive. Could spending time with friends be the answer to lowering your blood pressure?
How Is Blood Pressure Affected?
When the University of Chicago studied a group of 229 men and women between the ages of 50 and 68 … they found something interesting. After eliminating all other factors, they found that those who lacked comradeship were more likely to have high blood pressure.
The blood pressure of the loneliest people in the study was 10 to 30 mm Hg higher than those who had companionship. Compared to this … losing 10 kg of excess body weight can reduce your blood pressure by 5 to 20 mm Hg … physical activity has been shown to lower it by 4 to 9 mm Hg.
This shows the importance of social relations in our lives. A big part of living a healthy life is enjoying good relationships with friends and family.
My research on naturally lowering blood pressure showed … spending joyful time with friends is good for your health. Laughing with your comrades … joking with your pals … enjoying a fun time with your family … these times relax you and counter high blood pressure.
More Loneliness and High Blood Pressure
As our population ages and more people are living alone … loneliness and high blood pressure are on the increase. The first of the baby boomer generation are hitting 60 this year … a large group of people will retire and move away from their circle of workplace friends. Family and friends move, get sick, pass away … more and more elderly are feeling loneliness.
As household sizes decrease … as the number of people living alone increases … the risk of loneliness increases — and with it, the risk of heart disease.
Social relationships need to be replenished … you need to find new friends.
How To Avoid Loneliness
Get involved. Joining volunteer work and social groups allows you to make new friends. Getting out and about … being active in your community … it’s not only good for exercise, but also for social contact. It’s a great way to build your comradeship.
Join volunteer activities in your community. Help out with groups keeping parks clean … join in area patrols … take part in local blood drives … work on a campaign. Doing something for your community not only makes you feel useful … it brings you into close contact with others.
Take college night courses, join hiking groups, go on a tour … all are great ways to meet interesting people. Have fun and share a laugh.
Be open to new friendships … avoid being a lone wolf … avoid high blood pressure. Take this one step to protect your heart, today.
Hypertension can wreck havoc on many body organs. Its effects on the heart are especially damaging. High blood pressure and heart disease are closely connected.
Moderate to high blood pressure significantly increases the load on the left side of the heart. Arterioles are often diseased or constricted, which increases resistance to blood flow. When this happens, the heart has to work much more to pump blood into the arterial system including the aorta.
When any muscle is overused, it tends to increase in size and bulk. The heart muscles react the same way. An enlarged heart is a sign of trouble.
Heart enlargement can be detected in several ways. A chest x-ray can reveal it. So can an electrocardiogram or even a physical examination.
In many high blood pressure patients, the walls of the left ventricle thicken. This increases the workload on the heart. Eventually, the heart falters and the left side of the heart no longer pumps blood adequately.
When this happens, major organs and tissues of the body are denied sufficient blood supply. The affected person becomes lethargic and weak.
Because of the higher pressure in the left ventricle, blood from the lungs cannot drain into the top compartment of the heart (the atrium). As a result, the lung tissues get congested which brings on bouts of breathlessness and coughs.
The patient may have a dry cough or even frothy phlegm with blood stains in it. This is a very scary experience to the sufferer and onlookers. In an acute attack, it seems to the patient that he or she is choking to death.
Breathlessness due to heart problems may be first noticed during prolonged physical exertion. If the condition has progressed further, breathlessness may occur even while resting.
This is a serious situation and needs to be tacked immediately. If this damage worsens, the right side of the heart will be affected as well. When pressure builds up in the right atrium, it will be difficult for veins to drain blood into it.
When the heart’s condition deteriorates to this stage, the external jugular veins may become enlarged and more prominent. These veins are anyway close to the skin and may be visible even in healthy adults, but stress on the heart can increase their protrusion.
There are several other symptoms of right side heart failure. They include an enlarged liver, swollen ankles and feet, loss of appetite, swollen abdomen and lower urine flow.
High blood pressure and heart disease frequently have a cause and effect relationship. Making necessary lifestyle changes can help combat both.
In 2003, The American Heart Association reported that nearly one in three adults, or 65 million people had hypertension. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a common and treatable condition. You have high blood pressure if your blood pressure has a reading of 140 over 90 or higher (140/90mm Hg). Prehypertension is a reading of 120-139/80-89 mm Hg. The AHA reports 59 million adults have prehypertension. Sixty nine percent of people who have a heart attack and seventy seven percent of people who have a stroke have high blood pressure.
When you have hypertension there are no symptoms you can feel or see. The only way to tell is to have your blood pressure checked. In most cases, diet and lifestyle changes can help control mildly high blood pressure. But sometimes, your doctor will prescribe medication as well as lifestyle changes.
Here are some tips to help lower your blood pressure. Stop smoking, smoking narrows your blood vessels causing blood pressure to dramatically rise. You should also try to maintain a healthy weight. Eat fewer high fat foods and increase your physical activity. Exercise regularly, aerobic exercise tones your heart, blood vessels and muscles and helps keep your blood pressure low. Drink alcohol in moderation and limit your salt intake. A diet high in salt causes the body to retain water, which increases the volume of blood in circulation and increases the pressure in the arteries.
If you are required take blood pressure medication, take all the medication as prescribed. Try to take your pills close to the same time each day, and never skip a dose. If you have side effects or don’t believe your pressure is high, see your doctor about your concerns. Make sure you refill your prescriptions before they run out. Do not stop medication because your blood pressure is normal, chances are it’s is normal due to the medication.
© Copyright Fitness-Pulse.com, All Rights Reserved.
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted on the arteries. Blood pressure can differ from person to person. When your blood pressure is measured it is expressed in two numbers such as 120/80.The figure on the top denotes the pressure when the heart is pumping blood and its muscle is contracted. If your blood pressure is measured as 140/90, then you are a patient of hypertension or high blood pressure and therefore you need to reduce your blood pressure level. However, you should be aware that blood pressure rises with age and so as you grow older you should keep a check on your blood pressure and reduce blood pressure if it is above the normal blood pressure level.
Reducing blood pressure to normal levels helps reduce the risk of serious health problems like heart or kidney disorders. You can reduce blood pressure in several ways. Firstly, if you are overweight, you should aim to reduce your weight to within the guidelines for your height, body structure, and age. BMI, or Body Mass Index, is the best way to decide what is the ideal weight for you. This measure takes into account your height and weight.
However, don’t start a crash diet, as this can create further problems for your body. Reduce your weight slowly through eating a sensible diet and doing some form of exercise. Exercise will help you shift unwanted pounds and will also plays a positive role in reducing high blood pressure. Try to incorporate exercise into your daily regime, start easily with walking and build up ton include more aerobic exercises.
To further reduce blood pressure, reduce your intake of salty foods and avoid or cut down on alcohol. Including foods rich in calcium and potassium, as well as fish oils and magnesium can help reduce high blood pressure.
You have to maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to control your blood pressure. Some of the important and essential tips are following a healthy diet with low salt and sodium, maintaining healthy weight, and being active physically, limiting alcohol intake and putting a stop to smoking.
It is very important to keep your blood pressure level normal or reduce blood pressure if it rises because high blood pressure can cause severe health problems and damage the body. One of the important revelations in regards to reducing blood pressure is intake of sesame oil. Using sesame oil instead of other edible oil helps in reducing blood pressure or lowering blood pressure. Sesame oil contains approximately 43 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids, which has an impact on the blood pressure and contributes to reducing blood pressure
Although lifestyle changes helps in reducing blood pressure they are not usually enough. It is important to continue taking any medication prescribed by your doctor. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle along with medications can reduce blood pressure.
If you are suffering with High Blood Pressure, you should first consult your primary care physician before taking other steps.
