Hypertension Is A Dangerous Condition Which Normally Has A quite Simple Solution

In the last few years changes in lifestyle and diet in many western countries have caused a rise in the number of people suffering from high blood pressure.

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

So just what is high blood pressure and just what causes it?

The arteries within the body are continuously filled with blood which exerts a normal 'background' pressure on the artery walls. When your heart pumps newly oxygenated blood around your body it forces this blood into the arteries which briefly raises the pressure on the artery walls during every beat of the heart. These two pressures are called the systolic pressure (the higher pumping pressure of the heart) and the diastolic pressure (the reduced 'background' pressure).

Normal levels of blood pressure vary from individual to individual but, generally, systolic pressure ought to be approximately 120mm and diastolic pressure ought to be approximately 80mm. This is normally expressed as a blood pressure of 120/80.

Whenever your blood pressure starts to rise and then stays above 120/80 then you are said to be 'prehypertensive' and, although this is not in itself serious, it is a sign that you could be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems linked with it. As soon as your blood pressure rises to, and stays at, a level of 140/90 or higher then you are said to be suffering from hypertension and steps need to be taken to lower your blood pressure.

But what makes you blood pressure rise and then stay elevated?

Well, there are various factors involved here and to begib there is a group over which you have little, if any, control. This group includes a low weight at birth, a variety of genetic factors, some forms of diabetes (especially type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age the arteries have a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, resulting in a smaller cross-sectional area through which the blood can flow).

The next group of factors is far more within your control and includes leading a sedentary lifestyle, being overweight, smoking, stress, alcohol abuse, high levels of salt and saturated fats in your diet and employment in certain occupations like motorway maintenance or flying.

Most of these factors are of course treatable and, in a lot of cases, a simple adjustment to your diet and the addition of a bit of exercise into your daily routine is all that is necessary to reverse the problem. The difficulty however is that, with few symptoms, most people do not know that they are suffering from high blood pressure to start with.

So how can you cure the problem?

Luckily the answer to this question is quite simple. All you need to do is to call in at your physician's office regularly (for most of us about twice a year will do the trick) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure. The whole procedure is painless, easy and fast and will provide you with peace of mind and possibly save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense later on when you are forced to drop by his office once high blood pressure arrives.

If you are not so keen on calling in to see your doctor then an excellent alternative today is to monitor your own blood pressure. A large selection of easy to operate and reasonably inexpensive monitors are available today, allowing you to check your health, as well as the health of of your whole family, in the comfort and privacy of your own home.