Manage
Your Blood Pressure Naturally Before It Becomes A
Major Problem
What
To Know And What To Look For
Since symptoms are not always evident
when we are talking about high
blood pressure, it is better to look at risk factors that might cause a
person to have high blood pressure. Often the only way a person finds
out they have high blood pressure is because their blood pressure is
tested when they visit a doctor.
What could
put you at risk for having high blood pressure?
-
Race: African Americans are more
likely than Caucasians to have high blood pressure.
-
Gender: Men are more likely than
women to have high blood pressure.
-
Age: As you get older, your risk
increases.
-
Salt intake: It's not clear why
sodium affects blood pressure, but some people are sensitive to sodium,
and most people get much more than they need.
-
Obesity: Being overweight is a
huge risk factor for high blood pressure.
-
Smoking:
In addition, there are other factors
or conditions that can increase your risk of high blood pressure,
including:
-
Being pregnant:
-
Having diabetes:
-
Drinking alcohol to excess:
-
Living a sedentary lifestyle:
-
Taking oral contraceptives or
other medications such as steroids, diet pills, cold remedies, even
ibuprofen.
How is
Blood Pressure Diagnosed?
The blood pressure cuff measures blood
pressure,
but one high reading is not enough for a diagnosis to be made. You
could be having an especially stressful day or have other issues that
are causing your blood pressure to spike at that particular time. If
your doctor thinks you might have high blood pressure, several readings
might be taken during the same visit (including measurements from both
arms), as well as a family history and physical examination.
The doctor will do a lot of listening
to the heart as well as other
areas of the body to see if he or she can hear any strange noises that
might indicate a blockage or irregular heartbeat. The doctor may also
look at the blood vessels of the eyes, which could be damaged by
chronic high blood pressure, and examine the thyroid gland.
Your doctor should ask if anyone in
your family has had high blood
pressure and what medicines you have been taking (since some drugs can
cause hypertension, as we previously mentioned). He or she will also
ask what symptoms you have had such as dizziness, sweating, heart
palpitations or weight loss. These symptoms could indicate a deeper
problem rather than high blood pressure.
Blood may also be taken to check for
kidney disease, which can cause
high blood pressure, as well as for abnormal vitamin and mineral
levels, which could indicate a gland problem. An electrocardiogram is
also helpful to make sure no damage has occurred to the heart. You may
have even had a heart attack and don't know it. This test will show you
how your heart is doing.
What
Happens After Diagnosis?
Once you've been diagnosed with high
blood pressure, it is up to you
and your doctor to come up with the course of treatment that will be
best for you. We hope that you can use the information in this article
to have an informed conversation with your doctor about
what is best for you on the road to healing your body and managing
your
high blood pressure naturally.
What If I
Do Not Treat My High Blood Pressure?
There are many potential health
problems that could come your way if
you don't treat your high blood pressure. It's hard to believe that
something that doesn't manifest any symptoms can be causing so much
damage, but there are a whole host of health problems that can be
caused or made worse by your high blood pressure, including
atherosclerosis (also known as hardening of the arteries), heart
disease, stroke or aneurysm. You could have even had a heart attack or
heart failure without your knowledge.
That's why it is so important to treat
and manage your high blood pressure naturally,
whether you use the standard medical "cures," which artificially keep
your blood pressure lower than it would be without the drugs, or use
more natural methods to lower your blood pressure.
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