High Blood Pressure

Hypertension, commonly referred to as "high blood pressure", is a medical condition where the blood pressure is chronically elevated. While it is formally called arterial hypertension, the word "hypertension" without a qualifier usually refers to arterial hypertension. Hypertension gives a higher risk of heart attack or stroke than any other disease. Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure.

Hypertension can be classified as either essential or secondary. Essential hypertension is the term used when no specific medical cause can be found to explain a patient's condition. Secondary hypertension means that the high blood pressure is a result of another condition, such as kidney disease or certain tumors.

The Mayo Clinic website indicates that your blood pressure is "normal if it's below 120/80" but that "some data indicate that 115/75 mm Hg should be the gold standard."

Doctors recommend weight loss and regular exercise as the first steps in treating mild to moderate hypertension. These steps are highly effective in reducing blood pressure, although most patients with moderate or severe hypertension end up requiring indefinite drug therapy to bring their blood pressure down to a safe level. Discontinuing smoking does not directly reduce blood pressure, but is very important for people with hypertension because it reduces the risk of many dangerous outcomes of hypertension, such as stroke and heart attack. An increase in daily calcium intake has also been shown to be highly effective in reducing blood pressure.

Mild hypertension is usually treated by diet, exercise and improved physical fitness. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low fat or fat-free dairy foods and moderate or low in sodium lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension. This diet is known as the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), and is based on National Institutes of Health sponsored research. Salt may worsen hypertension in some people and reducing salt intake decreases blood pressure in a third of people. Many people choose to use a salt substitute to reduce their salt intake. Regular mild exercise improves blood flow, and helps to lower blood pressure. In addition, fruits, vegetables, and nuts have the added benefit of increasing dietary potassium, which offsets the effect of sodium and acts on the kidney to decrease blood pressure.

Reduction of environmental stressors such as high sound levels and over-illumination can be an additional method of ameliorating hypertension.

...More at Wikipedia

Related Links:

• US National Library of Medicine
• Mayo Clinic

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