High blood pressure isn’t so much a disease as it is a health issue – but it’s a health issue that shouldn’t be overlooked. Many people have high blood pressure and they don’t even know until something bad happens. Generally with any doctor visit, even if it’s a general check up, they will check the blood pressure to make sure you are on the up and up. Certain treatments can’t be administered if the blood pressure is too high.

Living with high blood pressure is dangerous on a day-to-day basis but it can be overcome with the right treatments administered. Part of what helps you become aware of what your blood pressure is, is to get it checked out frequently. One way to do this is by simply getting it checked out frequently. Anytime you go to a pharmacy, grocery store, or convenient store, there’s probably going to be a blood pressure machine. Knowing your pressure can help you determine what you’re doing in life so you can settle down a bit. Living life with high blood pressure is bad news because it can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Img: blood pressure chart, high diastolic blood pressure

The next important thing is to know what some possibilities are that you have high blood pressure.

1) Weight – This is probably the number one factor that plays into it. Being overweight isn’t anything to trifle with anyway, but when you add to the fact that the weight (primarily talking of obesity in regards to fat) your heart has to pump extra hard. The more weight there is the more work your heart has to do to pump.

2) Physical Activities or the Lack Thereof – This goes hand in hand with the weight issue. As you burn more calories during the day or work out you notice your heart pumping quickly. That is more or less conditioning your heart and veins. With more physical activity you have weight loss, which can make you lower your blood pressure.

3) Smoking – Whether it’s cigars or cigarettes, smoking is bad for you. It’s especially bad for the heart which pays a large price. The constant puffing motion retards the heart into thinking there’s something wrong. With all the carcinogens and other chemicals in tobacco flooding into your body, you know it can’t be a good thing.

4) Stress – You might have heard people call stress the silent killer. It really is, especially for those who don’t realize they are stressing. Stress punishes the psyche and it will eventually catch up with you, affecting your physical state, too.

5) Too Much Salt – Your doctor will probably tell you to minimize the salt in your diet. It seems almost impossible given all the foods that we eat that have hidden salts in it. However, you will notice a major improvement in your body if you have less salt. Salt is a dehydrating mechanism but it also tightens your veins making more difficult for the blood to pump through.

Results of High Blood Pressure

As briefly mentioned before, high blood pressure can result in heart attacks and strokes, but there are other things that it can do to you. Artery damage and narrowing is a major problem when it comes to hypertension. It can damage the arterie’s inner lining. As time goes there will be a hardening of the arteries. Eventually that will prevent blood flow from getting to the brains, legs, arms, chest, kidneys (basically all the major parts of your body).

An aneurysm can also occur. The pressure of blood moving through a weak artery can cause a bulge which is the aneurysm. It can rupture and cause internal bleeding. The scary thing about aneurysms is that if it bursts, you may not even know it until days later. Heart failure is also common. High blood pressure causes the heart muscles to weaken and work less efficiently. The heart will wear down. Naturally, the heart wears down even over time but you don’t want to accelerate the process.

Having high blood pressure is something to be taken seriously. Some people have the mindset of “it will get lower as I work out more.” That notion is laughable because it’s only one part of a major problem. It can affect anyone anytime. You will hear that some athletes have high blood pressure, too. That doesn’t seem like it would be logical because they constantly work out, but that goes to show you that there is a common misconception of high blood pressure. It doesn’t matter how in shape you are, or what you’re doing to change your habits – it can still affect you.

If you have high blood pressure, do something about it; make lifestyle changes, see you doctor, do what you have to do to insure you can live a life that you can enjoy with your family for years to come. You owe it to them and yourself.

Author Bio

Donna Shannon is physician practicing in Fort Worth, Texas. Donna highly recommends finding out what causes high blood pressure so you can be educated about it and informed when making daily decisions in life.