Hypertension Can Be A Very Dangerous Condition For Which There Is Usually A Simple Answer

Over the past few years changes in lifestyle and diet in most western countries have resulted in a rise in the number of individuals with high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (which is otherwise referred to as hypertension, or more accurately arterial hypertension) is a serious condition that rarely has any symptoms and that, if left undetected and untreated, can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which is a life-threatening condition.

So exactly what is hypertension and just what causes it?

The arteries of the body are continuously filled with blood which produces a normal 'background' pressure on the artery walls. As the heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood around the body it pushes this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure exerted on the artery walls with each beat of the heart. These two pressures are referred to as the systolic pressure (the higher pumping pressure of the heart) and the diastolic pressure (the reduced normal or 'background' pressure).

Normal blood pressure differs from individual to individual but, usually, systolic pressure should be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure should be about 80 mm Hg. This is ordinarily expressed as a blood pressure of 120/80.

If your blood pressure begins to rise and then stays above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, while this is not in itself serious, it is an indication that you may be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems associated with it. As soon as your blood pressure reaches, and remains at, a level of 140/90 or higher then you are suffering from hypertension and action needs to be taken to reduce your blood pressure.

But what causes your blood pressure to rise and stay at a high level?

Well, there are several factors at play here and to start there is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group includes low weight at birth, a number of genetic factors, certain forms of diabetes (particularly type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age our arteries display a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, producing a smaller cross-sectional area through which the blood can flow).

The second group of factors is much more controllable and includes a sedentary lifestyle, large levels of salt and saturated fats in the diet, being overweight, smoking tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and working in specific occupations like motorway maintenance or flying.

The vast majority of these factors are treatable and, in many cases, a quite simple change in your eating habits and the addition of some exercise into your daily routine is all that is necessary to solve the problem. The difficulty however is that, without any real symptoms, most people do not know that they have hypertension in the first place.

So how do you go about solving the problem?

Well, fortunately, the answer to this question is very simple. All you need to do is to drop by your physician's office on a regular basis (for most of us a couple of times a year will do the trick) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure for you. The whole procedure is pain free, easy and fast and will give you peace of mind and can save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense later on when you are forced to present yourself at his office once hypertension sets in.

If you are not so keen on calling in to see your doctor then an excellent alternative nowadays is to check your own blood pressure at home. A number of simple to operate and quite inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available today, allowing you to check your health, and that of your complete family, in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

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