High blood pressure: where it all begins?

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by: jupliana788
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Word Count: 389

Blood from your heat to the organs is carried by the arteries. When your heart beats, it pushes blood through the arteries. In people who have healthy arteries, the blood streams through the arteries with insignificant resistance. But in a person whose arteries have narrowed, the arteries prevent the blood from flowing through them. The heart has to work far harder to get the blood to the organs, and this is how high blood pressure occurs. Hypertension places a huge strain on your heart and impairs the blood vessels. This raises your risk for cardiac problems and kidney failure. High blood pressure is frequently called the "silent killer", since many men and women are not even aware they have it. This is because most males and females with high blood pressure have no symptoms.
Blood pressure in healthy adults is 120/80 or lower. High blood pressure is a reading 140/90 or higher. If your blood pressure is between 120/80 and 140/90, you have something called prehypertension. This signals you are gradually developing hypertension.
Several factors increase your risk of hypertension. Some you can control, and some you cannot. The factors you cannot be in control of are:
• Race. African Americans are proved to develop hypertension more often and at an earlier age. Besides, severe cases of hypertension are more often observed in African Americans.
• Age. Risk of hypertension raises as you become older.
• A hereditary factor. If some of your close family members have high blood pressure, you are at risk.
Other factors that put you at risk for hypertension include
• being corpulent
• lack of exercise
• heavy smoking
• consuming too much salt.
Physicians strictly recommend that all grownups aged 18 and older be examined for hypertension. If you have high blood pressure, the following are some tips to help you lower it.
• Stop smoking. Nicotine makes your blood vessels constrict and your heart beat quicker, which increases your blood pressure.
• Lose extra weight if you are corpulent.
• Do physical exercises regularly for 30 minutes 5 or days a week.
• Go on a balanced diet rich in vitamins and low in pure fat.
• Cut down on alcohol and sodium.
If lifestyle improvements alone do not decrease your blood pressure, your physician may moreover prescribe antihypertensive drugs to treat your high blood pressure. But remember: even if you must take medications, making some of the recommended life-style alterations can help reduce the amount of medicines you take.

About the Author

The article is written by a health care and science writer specializing in blood pressure problems and their methods of treatment. Visit the author's web page to find useful information about high blood pressure and powerful medications for it.

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