Looking Closer at the Silent Enemy – Hypertension
Hypertension is more commonly known as high blood pressure, but is nonetheless a silent enemy of many of us. Eating habits and lifestyles can bring this silent enemy to us; we aren’t born with hypertension. Although it might be a fact that hypertension alone will not kill you, it does lead to much more complicated illnesses. Thus the silent killer can lead to strokes, kidney failure, heart attacks and other serious conditions over a long period of time.
Our main goal here is to help educate you on how to prevent and control hypertension, as well as educate you in the causes of high blood pressure or hypertension. Awareness is the key.
Exactly what is high blood pressure or hypertension? It’s best described as a serious medical condition that causes your arterial blood pressure to rise significantly. If your blood pressure’s very high, your heart will have to work much harder in order to pump blood through the arteries. When the heart is overworked it can cause you to have organ damage or other illnesses.
Hypertension has two classifications: essential and secondary. Having no known causes the essential hypertension accounts for about 90% or more of the documented cases. While secondary hypertension has been reported from such causes as tumors, kidney disease and using birth control pills for an excessive amount of time.
Possible Causes of Hypertension
It can be hereditary, it can be age related or passed through family genes.
Another disease can give you hypertension; cure the other disease and the hypertension will go away.
Being obese will bring it on.
Some medications and the birth control pill, when used excessively can cause you to develop hypertension.
Excessive alcohol and smoking.
Diabetes
Inactivity
Deficiency in Vitamin D
Stress (in excess)
Chronic kidney issues, tumors or thyroid.
Generally, hypertension does not show any real dramatic signs; you will have, nausea or dizziness. Although other symptoms can occur like vision issues, breathing problems, chest pains, irregular heartbeats, blood in your urine and fatigue.
The Good News Is: You can prevent hypertension:
A regular daily intake of vegetables and fruit juices in your diet
Avoid too many meats in your diet, drinking alcohol and smoking
Eat baked over fried foods
Watch your salt intake
Exercise, taking a daily walk is even a good way to start
Losing weight actually reduces stress, so losing weight to help control hypertension is a key factor.
Remember that someone having hypertension does not always show any signs of it. It should be advised that you go for periodic tests for your blood pressure even if you are not showing any signs at present.
Depending on the diastolic and systolic pressures in your reading, once you’ve tested high you might be treated for the problem medically. Along with this, there are other ways to treat hypertension that can include: a change in your lifestyle, exercise, reduce alcohol and caffeine intake, eat a healthy diet that includes more vegetables and fruits, use less salt in cooking, eat less processed foods, and do not smoke.