High Blood Pressure

Also known as hypertension

• Approximately 3 in every 10 adults in England have high blood pressure.
• It is more common in older than younger people.
• Among people in their 60s,about 6 out of 10 have high blood pressure.
• Nearly a third of people with high blood pressure are not diagnosed.
• Studies have shown that people with high blood pressure are at a high risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney failure and strokes and in some cases can even damage eye sight.
• It is proven that a good control of blood pressure can very much reduce the developing of complications.
• If one is already been diagnosed to have high blood pressure, the knowledge to improving, understanding and acquiring self-management skills are very important.
• If you want whether you have high blood pressure or not, a simple blood pressure measurement by your doctor.
• Ideal resting Blood pressure is 135/80.

Symptoms of undiagnosed high Blood pressure are:

• In most cases it is a silent disease and rarely makes people unwell.
• Headaches
• Eye sight problems –blurred vision
• Shortness of breath
• Nose bleeds

Causes of high Blood pressure are:

• Lack of Physical activity
• Overweight
• High Salt in your diet
• Large consumption of Alcohol
• Not having sufficient amount of fruit and vegetables.
• Genetically inherited
•  Narrowing of the artery to a kidney
•  Abnormal production of hormones from the Adrenal glands.
•  Severe Kidney Disease.

To keep a good control of blood pressure one needs to:

• Keep to a low fat diet
• Reduce salt intake
• Stop Smoking
• Limit Alcohol Consumption
• Exercise regularly
• Keep weight within the guidelines for height (BMI)
• Learn to manage stress
• Moderate consumption of caffeinated drinks.

Studies have shown that as we become older, we also become more sensitive to salt .A reduction in salt intake is particularly beneficial for older people, even if their blood pressure is in the normal range. This small change in lifestyle change will result in a fall of blood pressure and reduction in the risk of developing a stroke or heart attack.  In order to cut back on salt intake, a sensible move would be to reduce the salt added to the cooking and at the table.

Recommended daily in take =6gms of salt.

To convert sodium to salt you need to multiply the amount of sodium by 2.5. 1gram of sodium per 100g =2.5grams salt.

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