What are the treatments that help to reduce high blood pressure?

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a common condition in which the force of the blood against the walls of your arteries is strong enough over time to cause health problems like heart disease.

Blood pressure is a measure of how much blood your heart pumps and how hard it is for blood to flow through your arteries. When your blood pressure is high, your heart pumps a greater volume of blood, and your arteries become more constricted as a result. Mercury millimetres are used to measure hypertension (mm Hg). There are two digits.

Systolic pressure (Top number): 

The first number, or the upper one, shows how much pressure is in your arteries when your heart beats.

Diastolic pressure (Bottom number):

The second number, which is lower, shows how much pressure is in your arteries between heartbeats.

What occurs if hypertension is left untreated?

If hypertension is not treated, it can cause serious health problems, such as:

• Stroke.
• Heart attack.
• Peripheral vascular disease.
• Kidney disease/failure.
• Complications during pregnancy.
• Eye damage.
• Vascular dementia.

What are the major causes of hypertension?

Primary hypertension:

Most adults with hypertension have no clear reason for it. This kind of hypertension, called “primary” or “essential,” tends to come on slowly over a long period of time.

Secondary hypertension:

Some people have hypertension because they have a health problem that is causing it. This kind of hypertension, called secondary hypertension, usually comes on quickly and causes higher blood pressure than primary hypertension. Several conditions and medications can cause secondary hypertension, such as:

• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Kidney sickness
• Tumors in the adrenal gland
• Thyroid problems
• Some problems with your blood vessels are present at birth.
• Some prescription drugs

Who is at high risk of getting affected by blood pressure?

Age:

Growing older brings with it an increased likelihood of developing hypertension. Men have a higher risk of developing hypertension than women do until about the age of 64. After the age of 65, women have a greater risk of developing hypertension than men do.

Family genes:

The tendency to have hypertension often runs in families.

Overweight: 

When you weigh heavier, your body needs a greater volume of blood in order to deliver oxygen and nutrients to all of its tissues. The pressure that is exerted on the walls of your arteries rises in direct proportion to the volume of blood that is moving through your circulatory system.

Lack of physical activity:

People who have sedentary lifestyles typically have greater resting heart rates. When your heart rate is higher, your heart has to work more diligently with each contraction, and the force that is exerted on your arteries is greater. A lack of regular physical activity is another factor that contributes to an increased chance of being overweight. Reach out to your general medicine specialist in Coimbatore in case you are dealing with a blood pressure problem.

Alcohol:

Drinking to excess on a regular basis might cause heart damage over time. It is possible that your blood pressure will be affected if you consume more than one drink per day (for women) or more than two drinks per day (for males).

Stress:

A momentary spike in blood pressure may occur in response to prolonged exposure to high levels of stress. Behaviors that are associated with stress, such as overeating, using tobacco, or drinking alcohol, can contribute to additional increases in blood pressure.

Treatment options that are available to treat high blood pressure levels:

Changing the way you live can help you keep your hypertension under control. Your specialist doctor for bp may suggest that you make changes to your life, such as:

• Consuming less salt is beneficial for the health of your heart.
• Keeping up with regular exercise
• Keeping your weight at a healthy level or losing weight if you are overweight or obese
• putting a cap on how much alcohol you drink
• But sometimes making changes to the way you live isn’t enough. If what you eat and how much you work out don’t help, your doctor may suggest that you take medicine to lower your blood pressure.

Medications to control high blood pressure:

What kind of medicine your doctor gives you for hypertension depends on how hypertension is and how healthy you are in general. Most of the time, two or more blood pressure medicines work better than just one.

• You’re over 65 and in good health.
• You are an adult younger than 65 who is healthy and has a 10% or higher chance of getting heart disease in the next 10 years.
• You have a long-term illness like kidney disease, diabetes, or heart disease.

Treatment of resistant hypertension:

You are also said to have resistant hypertension if you have hypertension but are able to control it by taking four different kinds of drugs at the same time. If you do, your doctor should look into whether your hypertension is caused by something else.

Even if you have resistant hypertension, that doesn’t mean that your blood pressure will never go down. If you and your doctor can figure out what’s going on, you can make a better treatment plan to help you reach your blood pressure goal. Consult the specialist in case you are looking for high or low blood pressure treatment.

Many steps may be needed to treat hypertension that doesn’t go away, such as:

• Changing your hypertension drugs to find out which doses and combinations work best
• Reviewing all the medicines you take and keeping an eye on your blood pressure at home to see if your blood pressure goes up when you go to the doctor (white coat hypertension)
• Making healthy changes to your life, like eating a healthy diet with less salt, staying at a healthy weight, and drinking less alcohol.
• Always take your blood pressure medicine as your doctor tells you to. Don’t miss a dose or stop taking your hypertension medicine all of a sudden. Stopping some hypertension medicines all of a sudden can cause a sharp rise in blood pressure (rebound hypertension). Consult the hypertension doctor in Coimbatore to avail the best blood pressure treatment.

How to prevent increasing blood pressure?

Changes in lifestyle for many people with hypertension can bring their blood pressure down into a reasonable range or keep their numbers in a healthy range, both of which are desirable outcomes. Have a discussion about this with your health care team.

• Participating in physical activity on a weekly basis for a minimum of 150 minutes (about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week)
• Not smoking
• Consuming a nutritious diet, which should include cutting back on both sodium (salt) and alcoholic beverages
• The maintenance of a healthy weight
• Managing stress

Some persons with hypertension need to take medication to manage their hypertension, in addition to making healthy lifestyle modifications, in order to control their hypertension. The blood pressure specialist in Coimbatore can help you with the right treatment for hypertension.