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[A123]About High Blood Pressure

by Stan Kitchen, Sta

High blood pressure or hypertension is a condition that sneaks up on people slowly, so slowly that many people have it, and don't even know it. In fact, one in every three Americans develops the condition. Most people think only older people suffer with hypertension, but the disease strikes many younger people every day.

High blood pressure is no longer something that you get when you are fifty and working a high-profile job. Teenagers get it, and even younger children. Today, the prevalence of high fat, high sugar diets do not help, and the rising rate of obesity is one of the major reasons more people suffer with the condition today. While the disease may last a lifetime, it is possible to treat and control it, sometimes with a mere change in diet and exercise, though for others, treatment comes in the form of medication.

Everyone has a blood pressure, as it is vital to life. The heart pumps blood through its chambers, and from there throughout the body's arterial system. That oxygen rich blood is distributed throughout body organs, tissues and cells and then, once deoxygenated, returns through the veins back to the heart for a fresh dose of oxygen. The heart of a normal person beats around 80 to 120 times each minute. Those who are in excellent physical health and teenagers may have lower pressures. Anything within about 110 to 120 is great. You normally measure blood pressure in two parts. The first number in a blood pressure reading is the pressure exerted by the heart when it performs the pumping action. The second number is measures the heart at rest, between beats. So, a normal blood pressure reading could be 120/80, for example.

Medical experts consider someone who is at risk of high blood pressure "prehypertensive", if the blood pressure reading is within 120-139 beats each minute, systolic pressure, which again, comes from the first measurement. Similarly, the bottom pressure, the diastolic measurement, may be anywhere between 80 to 90.

There are two different stages of high blood pressure. Stage One occurs when the blood pressure reading of any given individual is between 140-158 for a systolic reading. The bottom pressure measurement, the diastolic reading, can range from around 90-98. These numbers are not definite. You need to consider other things when getting a blood pressure reading. Is the person overweight, on medications or just finished exercising? While these figures may sound alarming, proper diet and exercise, combined with medications, may be enough to get blood pressure back under control.

Stage Two high blood pressure occurs when the systolic pressure ranges over 160, while the bottom pressure reads over 100. It is a good idea to get blood pressure checked at least once a
year, and if it is borderline, talk to your doctor about treatment choices. Don't mess around with your heart. It is the only one you will have in your lifetime, unless you need a transplant. You and your doctor can treat high blood pressure.

Of all the diseases and problems that we as people face, high blood pressure is one of the most easily treatable. Yet, there are so many people who have it and are unable to lower it. Why?

The answer may surprise you.

Most people who suffer from high blood pressure, have been diagnosed as having it and been given a treatment regime have great difficulty in sticking to the regime itself. That is the biggest problem in battling high blood pressure.

For example. Patients who need to take certain drugs to lower their blood pressure become lax. They may basically feel okay, especially if their blood pressure is not serious enough. Most people with borderline high blood pressure have no symptoms. Therefore, because they basically feel in good health they will occasionally skip their medications or not take them at all.

Then there are people who smoke. Smokers have probably the hardest time of all quitting or even reducing the amount they smoke each day. Just look around at all the stop smoking programs there are. This will give you a pretty good idea of how hard it is to quit. Also, since smoking itself does not directly raise your blood pressure this gives a person even less incentive to stop, adding to that the likelihood that stopping will end up putting weight on which will actually raise the blood pressure itself.

Alcohol is another problem. People who enjoy a couple of drinks a day are very unlikely to give them up, especially if they have stressful jobs. Those couple of drinks help relax them at least psychologically even if their blood pressure is being raised in the process. And for people who are alcoholics, stopping or even lowering their alcohol intake is almost impossible.

Salt in the diet is a very hard thing to give up. The truth is, with the depleted soil in our world, most foods have very little taste. People who live with a salt shaker in their hands would have a very difficult time eating their meals without that extra salt. For many people, eating is one of the great joys in their lives. To turn that into an unpleasant experience is not something they are likely to do. Plus, those who always on the go and have little choice but to eat in fast food chains are never going to be able to decrease their salt intake.

Then there is the matter of obesity. Just like with smoking, look at all the diet programs. Losing weight for many people is one of the hardest things in their life. Even if they want to, some people find it close to impossible. And for people who are overweight, exercising to lose those extra pounds may be difficult because obese people just don't have the stamina to do much exercise.

When you add all the above factors together and each ones degree of difficulty, it is easy to see why so many people have trouble reducing their blood pressure.

Article Source : Blood Pressure Cuff

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Both Stan Kitchen & Michael Russell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Stan Kitchen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Blood Pressure. Get the latest in high blood pressure know how from the only true source at pages.. Stan Kitchen's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.

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