High Blood Pressure – Hello Doctor

Why you need to watch your blood pressure

February 20th, 2018 by The Hello Doctor Team

Did you know, that your blood pressure never stays the same? It lowers as you sleep and rises when you’re awake, active, excited and nervous. Here’s how it works, and what you need to know to stay healthy:

What is blood pressure?

Blood pressure is the pressure or force of circulating blood within the walls of your blood vessels. When your heart beats, it gives your body the energy and oxygen it needs. As your blood moves through your body, it pushes against the sides of the blood vessels. The strength of this ‘pushing’ is your blood pressure.

If you fill a balloon with water, for instance, the more water you fill, the higher the water-pressure inside the balloon. The water ‘pushes’ against the balloon’s walls. Your blood pressure works the same way.

Without blood pressure, you can’t live. When it gets too high, it puts extra strain on your arteries and heart which can lead to serious consequences. So, essentially high blood pressure (HBP) means the pressure in your arteries is higher than it should be.

High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. This condition is dangerous because it often has no symptoms.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa, one in three adults has high blood pressure and 10 people suffer a stroke in South Africa every hour. Some issues and diseases increase your chances of developing hypertension which can eventually damage your heart, blood vessels, kidneys, eyes, brain and other organs.

What happens if your blood pressure is too high?

High blood pressure has no obvious symptoms and is commonly called the “silent killer”. The high pressure over time, could lead to a heart attack or stroke. Make sure you get your blood pressure checked regularly by a doctor or at a clinic.

What happens if it’s too low?

This is otherwise known as hypotension which is a reading of less than (90/60). This is when your blood pressure is abnormally low. When this happens you may feel nauseous, tired, dizzy, light-headed, confused, have a blurry vision and feel weak.

Risk factors of high blood pressure:

Uncontrollable factors: Family history, chronic kidney disease, obstructive sleep apnea and getting older.

Controllable factors: Smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, diabetes, obesity, being overweight, high cholesterol, an unhealthy diet and not getting enough exercise. What you eat affects your chances of getting high blood pressure. A healthy and balanced eating plan can reduce your risk and lower the pressure that’s already too high.

Measuring blood pressure
The measurement is made up of two parts: systolic and diastolic. This is why a blood pressure measurement is written as one figure “over” another, like 120/80 mm Hg. The top, systolic, number is the pressure when the heart beats. The bottom, diastolic, number is the pressure when the heart rests between beats.

What your blood pressure reading means:

Blood pressure category	Systolic mm HG (upper number)		Diastolic mm HG (lower number)
Normal	Less than 120	and	Less than 80
Elevated	120-129	and	Less than 80
High blood pressure (Hypertension stage 1)	130-139	or	80-89
High blood pressure (Hypertension stage 2)	140 or higher	or	90 or higher
Hypertensive crisis (see a doctor immediately)	Higher than 180	and/or	Higher than 120

When to see your doctor

The only way to know if your blood pressure is okay is by going for regular check-ups. If you’re diagnosed with hypertension, make sure to take your medication exactly as your doctor prescribes! Don’t swap your dosages or stop taking them, even if you think you feel better.

References:

Is salt really causing hypertension?

September 28th, 2017 by The Hello Doctor Team

Salt has long been labelled a hypertension villain, but the link between the two isn’t so clear-cut, a new study finds.

The recommended daily sodium intake is 2 300 milligrams. This is equal to about five grams (one teaspoon) of salt per day. However, findings from a 16-year study call this into question.

The scientific findings

Lynn L. Moore, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, and her team analysed data from more than 2 000 men and women between the ages of 30 and 64 years old.

At the start of the study, all the participants had normal blood pressure. But as the trial went on, the researchers found that participants who took in less than 2 500 milligrams of sodium a day had higher blood pressure than those who had higher amounts of sodium.

Even though the results seem counterintuitive, they support the belief that there’s a relationship between sodium and cardiovascular risk. This means that both low-sodium and very high-sodium diets carry a higher risk for heart disease.

“We saw no evidence that diets lower in sodium had any long-term beneficial effects on blood pressure,” says Professor Moore. “Our findings add to growing evidence that current recommendations for sodium intake may be misguided.”

Potassium power

Sodium isn’t the only dietary factor in blood pressure. The study also underlines the importance of potassium.

The researchers found that people with the lowest blood pressure had the highest intake of sodium and potassium, and those with the highest blood pressure had the lowest intake of sodium and potassium.

Similar effects were seen with magnesium and calcium; higher levels were linked to lower blood pressure, and vice versa.

With this study, Moore hopes to play a part in shifting dietary decisions, and refocus “on the importance of increasing intakes of foods rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium for the purpose of maintaining a healthy blood pressure.”

Sugar worse than salt

Never mind salt; research suggests that sugar has a bigger impact on blood pressure. According to findings published in Open Heart, sugar may be more strongly and directly linked to hypertension and the risk of developing cardiovascular problems. The study found that:

A high sugar intake increases systolic blood pressure.
People who consume 10-25% of their calories from added sugars have a 30% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Those who consume 25% or more of their calories from sugar face an almost threefold risk.
Table sugar is made up of glucose and fructose. A high-fructose diet for just two weeks increases systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Excessive fructose also raises heart rate, triglycerides (bad fats in the blood), and cholesterol levels.

This doesn’t mean that salt is entirely off the hook. It just means the picture is a bit more complicated than that. General rule of thumb: keep your salt intake low, but also remember to add some healthy potassium and magnesium through green plants, and a healthy dose of veggies. Here’s how:

Control the pressure

Other than watching your salt and sugar intake:

Eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables daily. A diet high in whole fruits and veg has been shown to lower blood pressure.
Use herbs and spices to season your food. In doing so, you won’t need to use as much sugar and salt to make your food taste delicious.
Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. Being more active can lower your systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 9 mm Hg. That’s as good as some blood pressure medications.

References

What to know about the highs and lows of blood pressure

July 7th, 2017 by The Hello Doctor Team

Your body is an ingenious machine. And, one of the reasons it works so well is because your blood pressure fluctuates.

Blood pressure is the force exerted by your heart, against the resistance created by the arteries, to keep blood flowing through your body. Blood pressure measurement consists of two parts – systolic and diastolic.

The first number is the systolic blood pressure; this is the highest pressure when your heart pushes the blood around your body. The second/bottom number is diastolic. This is the lowest blood pressure when your heart is relaxed. When your doctor takes your reading, he’s looking to see if one number is higher or lower than it should be, according to the standard.

A normal reading would be a systolic (top) number between 90 and 120 and a diastolic (bottom) number between 60 and 80. Blood pressure is essential to your survival. But when it remains too high for too long or drops too low, it can become dangerous and cause problems.

The low down
In general, the lower your blood pressure, the better – as long as you feel well. If the force with which your heart contracts or the resistance in your arteries decreases, your blood pressure will also decrease as a result. If your blood pressure drops below a certain level though, blood supply to your brain, heart and kidneys, decrease which could land you in trouble. Blood pressure that’s abnormally low or causes light-headedness or fainting is called hypotension.

Chat to your doctor if:

Hypotension is not necessarily dangerous. However, you may need to get some tests done if:

you frequently feel dizzy
experience diarrhoea and vomiting
have gone into shock previously
you’re constantly dehydrated.

The high end

Hypertension is the other end of the stick; high blood pressure. This is when the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels, is consistently too high. This happens when there’s increased resistance to blood flow through the arteries, which don’t stretch and swell as they should.

Chat to your doctor if:

The trouble with hypertension is that it doesn’t show many symptoms either, so you will need to do a blood pressure test to know for sure. Symptoms to look out for:

intense headaches
consistent fatigue
chest pain
bouts of dizziness.
difficulty breathing
irregular heartbeat
nosebleeds
blurred vision.

Keep up to date with your doctor screenings to catch this problem early!

Complications:

An enlarged heart is just one of these scary consequences. The extra load placed on the heart by a prolonged increase in blood pressure can cause the heart muscle to become thickened and stretched. The heart isn’t able to pump properly, resulting in heart failure and an accumulation of fluid in the lungs.

You also run the risk of:

Stroke
Heart attack
kidney damage
blockages of the arteries.

Let out the pressure…
There’s a reason the conventional health wisdom is still touted today; it works. Eating healthily, staying away from cigarettes, drugs, excess alcohol, effectively managing stress and generally living well are still the gold standards. Controlling your blood pressure is no exception.

Small good habits can help your blood pressure immensely, asserts a study by the University of Alabama. “Even slight improvements in cardiovascular health can reduce your risk for developing high blood pressure,” says the study.

They surveyed a few thousand people over an eight-year period. They found that half the group developed high blood pressure while the other half were less likely to do so – based on them following simple tactics. These included not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, following a relatively healthy diet and exercising regularly.

Salt is also a huge contributory factor to high blood pressure – and it’s pretty much in everything we eat. So, make a concerted effort to dial back on the salty foods; bread, cold meats, pies, margarine, soups, gravies, chips, breakfast cereals, and sauces.

It’s also a good idea to have your blood pressure tested every one to two years. If you have diabetes, heart disease or kidney problems, have your blood pressure checked at least once a year.

References

Are salt-substitutes really better than salt?

March 16th, 2016 by The Hello Doctor Team

Has your doctor told you to cut back on salt because your blood pressure is too high? ‘Oh no! Now my food will be tasteless! I might as well chew on a piece of cardboard.” Not true: You can still enjoy flavourful food without adding salt.

Continue reading “Are salt-substitutes really better than salt?”

Pumped: When is high blood pressure a good thing?

February 26th, 2016 by The Hello Doctor Team

Imagine that you need to get somewhere in a hurry and all you have is a bicycle – the most important thing to check is your tyres, right? Too soft and you’re going to be pedalling for nothing, but too hard and you could get a puncture in the middle of your journey. Blood pressure is like that. Continue reading “Pumped: When is high blood pressure a good thing?”

Sugar or salt? Which is the worst villain?

June 26th, 2015 by The Hello Doctor Team

“Stop! Don’t add any sugar or salt to your food – they’re both bad for you!” Ah yes, the 2 health villains you’ve heard so much about! They both give your body a hard time, but is one more dangerous than the other? It’s time to put them under the spotlight. Continue reading “Sugar or salt? Which is the worst villain?”

Your blood pressure-friendly, food-free diet

May 17th, 2015 by The Hello Doctor Team

Welcome to your ‘foodless’ diet plan, guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. We’re not going to tell you what you can and can’t eat, but rather give you the facts and offer alternative treatment to ensure a heart-healthy lifestyle. Continue reading “Your blood pressure-friendly, food-free diet”

Hypertension is a silent killer

May 14th, 2015 by The Hello Doctor Team

May you never meet The Silent Killer – hypertension! And why is hypertension called The Silent Killer? Because you can have it without knowing! There are no direct symptoms. And high blood pressure increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. These can also hit you without warning. Continue reading “Hypertension is a silent killer”

The A B C of blood pressure

April 19th, 2015 by The Hello Doctor Team

Think of high blood pressure and you might think of red-faced angry people with steam coming out of their ears right before they clutch their chest and have a heart attack. It’s a classic image but not an entirely accurate one. High blood pressure certainly does place you at higher risk of a heart attack, but there is a lot more to the condition. Continue reading “The A B C of blood pressure”

Signs and symptoms of hypertension

June 7th, 2014 by The Hello Doctor Team

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is called the silent killer because it generally has no signs or symptoms until it’s fairly advanced and has gone undetected.

Continue reading “Signs and symptoms of hypertension”

The Big Salt Round Up

May 3rd, 2014 by The Hello Doctor Team

In partnership with Salt Watch, this season on the Hello Doctor TV show we brought you everything you need to know about salt: why too much is dangerous, how much your body actually needs, how much is too much, and how to substitute salt in recipes.

To help make it easier for you, here are our top Salt Watch blog posts from episode 1. Enjoy!

Continue reading “The Big Salt Round Up”

Smaller portions equals less salt

February 19th, 2014 by The Hello Doctor Team

Reducing the amount of food you eat at each meal, even gradually, will help you to lose and maintain a healthy weight. There’s an additional pay-off too though; smaller portions means you also eat less salt.

Continue reading “Smaller portions equals less salt”