Hypertension guide

Hypertension can cause atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis causes high blood pressure. Whilst they are different conditions, the prevention and natural treatment for each of them is similar. This article describes the relationship between the two conditions and how to prevent them.

The relationship between atherosclerosis and hypertension

Atherosclerosis affects the smooth muscles inside of the arteries causing them to lose elasticity. The arteries also become narrowed or blocked. This constricts the blood flow and raises blood pressure. Hypertension is a symptom of something wrong inside our bodies.

The development of atherosclerosis is thought to begin with damage being caused to endothelial cells or surface cells lining the inside of our arteries. The smooth muscles are underneath the endothelial cells. There are several factors that can cause endothelial damage, one of which is hypertension - which is...

A risk fact or heart disease, heart attack and strokes

Atherosclerosis can cause blood clots that can stop the blood supply to a vital organ, such as:

when the heart is affected, tissue is damaged or destroyed causing sudden heart failure or death; andwhen the brain is affected, brain tissue is destroyed or impaired, which can lead to stroke, paralysis, functional impairment, coma or death.

Prevention and reversal

Hypertension and atherosclerosis can both be prevented and to some extent reversed by making some simple lifestyle adjustments. These are;

#1. Have a healthy diet:

A balanced healthy diet aimed at reducing hypertension, such as the DASH diet, is also effective at preventing the development of atherosclerosis. Such a diet is effective because it eliminates several the dietary causes of atherosclerosis. These are:

high cholesterol levelshigh saturated fat contentinflammation of the arterieshigh amounts of oxidation agentshigh content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and low content of high density lipoprotein (HDL)

#2. Regular exercise:

As little as 30 to 40 minutes of daily cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling, jogging or swimming, can lower systolic pressure by between 4 and 8 points and the benefits last for almost 24 hours.

Research shows that this type and amount of daily exercise, especially in middle age, has health benefits that last into old age. The reason for this is that regular exercise reduces inflammation of the arteries, which can cause hypertension and atherosclerosis.

#3. Lose weight:

There is a direct correlation between being overweight and having hypertension. Systolic pressure can be reduced by between 5 and 20 points for every 20 pounds of excess weight that we lose.

Furthermore, slimming down to our natural body weight reduces the risk of developing atherosclerosis because our systolic pressure will be much nearer to normal.

#4. Quit smoking:

Smoking raises blood pressure by causing the smooth muscles in our arteries to become less elastic. Smoking can also cause endothelial damage leading to the development of atherosclerosis.

#5. Reduce alcohol consumption:

Limiting alcohol consumption to one unit a day does not appear to have any harmful effects. However, consumption above this level can cause weight gain that leads to hypertension. Long-term heavy consumption can cause organ damage and might also cause endothelial damage leading to the development of atherosclerosis.

These simple lifestyle changes can protect you from the development of atherosclerosis and hypertension. They can also lower your high blood pressure naturally.

Robert Reddin suffers from high blood pressure. He lowered his blood pressure to normal levels using natural methods. Click here if you want to lower your blood pressure naturally. http://how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure.com/

View the original article here

Hypertension and stress are facts of nature. Nature intended stress to be a short-term experience to set our bodies up to deal with potential or actual danger when it causes the high blood pressure needed to fight or flee. Modern working and lifestyles, however, are often continuously stressful and can lead to persistently elevated blood pressure levels. Our bodies do not react well to these conditions.

The relationship between stress and hypertension:

The human body responds to physical or mental stress by releasing a surge of hormones including adrenalin, in preparation for a "fight or flight" response. These hormones constrict the walls of blood vessels, the result is a faster heart rate and elevated systolic and diastolic pressures.

Once the cause of stress is resolved, heart rate, systolic and diastolic pressures return to normal.

Although short-term stress alone might not cause chronic hypertension, some stress-related lifestyle behaviours caused by our continuously stressful modern working and lifestyles do lead to persistently high BP readings. For example, stress often leads to:

overeating, especially unhealthy foods;being overweight;smoking;increased alcohol consumption;overuse of caffeine; andpoor sleep habits.

Each of which can contribute to hypertension.

Controlling hypertension:

Controlling hypertension is a lifelong activity simply because our BP changes almost from minute to minute and is influenced by so many factors. Hypertension can progress as we get older simply as part of the ageing process. Treatments that worked earlier in life may need to be adjusted over time to maintain our readings within normal levels.

Regardless of whether stress is a direct or indirect contributor to our hypertension, stress reduction techniques can help lower high blood pressure.

Stress is a product of our modern working and lifestyles. If we are to successfully manage our blood pressure within normal levels, we must address the cause or causes of our anxiety, tension and pressure whether they be mental, physical or both.

10 Tips to reduce stress:

Allow sufficient time for getting too and from work; and, if your work involves travel, plan your journey and build in rest breaks;Organise your work schedule to allow adequate time to complete the task in hand;Allow some time for relaxation during work breaks;Focus on finding solutions to problems;Avoid negativity in life and adopt a positive attitude;Spend quality time with your family and friends;Exercise regularly;Take up a hobby - relaxation can be active as well as passive;Improve your diet; andGet plenty of quality sleep.

Adopting these ten tips will reduce your stress levels both at work and in your lifestyle. When you have resolved the causes of your stress, your high blood pressure should return to normal levels naturally.

Robert Reddin suffers from high blood pressure. He lowered his blood pressure to normal levels using natural methods. Click here if you want to lower your blood pressure naturally.  http://how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure.com/

View the original article here

There is a correlation between our hypertension and the amount of alcohol we consume. The relationship is not straightforward and can differ between men and women and between the races. This article examines that relationship and looks at what it means for individuals.

The research:

A meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials in which alcohol reduction was the only intervention between active and control groups found that:

alcoholic beverage reduction lowered systolic and diastolic pressures,with a dose-response relationship.

To put it another way, the less alcoholic beverages consumed the lower the subject's BP readings.

Additionally, an older, randomized controlled crossover trial found that after an alcohol-reduction induced drop in BP readings, the resumption of baseline alcohol intake increased pressures back to pre-study levels.

That is to say, reverting back to the pre-trial levels of alcohol consumption caused the subject's BP to revert to the readings before the trial began.

The findings:

Taken together, the studies show that hypertension associated with alcohol drinking may be reversible with dose reduction or abstinence.

Gender and race differences:

The association between hypertension and light-to-moderate drinking, that is up to 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women, is more complicated.

A study of 66,510 light to moderate drinkers found that among women (but not men), there was lower hypertension prevalence compared to abstainers. This finding was also confirmed by another large-scale study.

Racial considerations complicate the picture even more. Relative to abstinence:

black men who are low to moderate drinkers have a higher risk of developing hypertension than black women and Caucasians of either gender; andAsian men are at higher risk than non-Asian populations.

Alcohol and secondary hypertension:

Alcohol induced high blood pressure is thought to be the most prevalent form of secondary hypertension. This is borne out by the findings a Japanese study, which found alcohol consumption to be the cause of high blood pressure in 34.5% of men and 2.6% of women.

Does red wine really lower high blood pressure?

The popular view is that red wine is beneficial for cardiovascular health and for reducing hypertension. This view has been refuted by several studies.

For example, a study of healthy men showed that daily consumption of greater than 3 alcoholic drinks per day, either as red wine or beer, for 4 weeks resulted in similar increases in systolic blood pressure and heart rate. while de-alcoholized red wine was no different to abstinence with regard to blood pressure.

This finding implies that ethanol is the chemical responsible for blood pressure elevation, regardless of the beverage.

Certain red grape varieties are particularly high in antioxidants and so too is the wine made from them. It is likely, that any benefits there are from drinking red wine come from the antioxidants.

What does this mean for an individual?

Some alcohol intake seems to be beneficial for overall health. Thus, light drinking of any type of alcohol should not be discouraged, but alcohol consumption should be limited to one unit a day for women and two units a day for men.

For people with hypertension, reducing alcohol consumption or abstaining can help to lower your high blood pressure to normal levels naturally.

Robert Reddin suffers from high blood pressure. He lowered his blood pressure to normal levels using natural methods. Click here if you want to lower your blood pressure naturally.  http://how-to-lower-your-blood-pressure.com/

View the original article here