High Blood Pressure

High Blood Pressure, or hypertension affects more than 60 million Americans, yet many are unaware that they have this condition. If left untreated, hypertension can result in serious health consequences; however, there are many ways to treat or prevent it.

To control hypertension you first need to understand blood pressure and the circulatory system. Blood pressure is the force exerted on the walls of the blood vessels by the pumping action of your heart. Over the course of each day, your blood pressure changes to meet the physiological demands of your varied activities. For example, blood pressure increases when you exercise and decreases when you sleep.

A blood pressure reading indicates the force of blood during two different events in the circulatory system:

1. When the large chambers of the heart contract (the systolic reading), and...

2. When the chambers relax between the contractions (the diastolic reading).

The range of normal blood pressure readings varies according to several factors including exercise level, age, medical history and health status. The desirable resting blood pressure of healthy adults is less than 120/80 mmHg.

High blood pressure is caused by a narrowing of small blood vessels throughout your body. The narrowing makes the heart work harder to push the blood through the blood vessels, resulting in elevated blood pressure.

Anything that clogs the blood vessels or causes them to become smaller will increase pressure. In the small blood vessels which bring oxygen and nutrients to the brain, kidneys, eyes and heart, elevated pressure may damage the vessels prohibiting adequate blood flow. Unmanaged, high blood pressure in these organs can cause stroke (brain), renal failure (kidneys), heart attack, and vision problems.

High blood pressure (HBP) may occur at any age from a combination of risk factors:

Uncontrollable Risk Factors

• Heredity - If one or both of your parents have HBP then you are at increased risk.

• Race - For unclear reasons, African Americans are at higher risk. 

• Gender - Men are at slightly higher risk than women.

• Age - The risk increases with advancing age.

Controllable Risk Factors

• Weight - The more over weight you are the higher your risk.

• Smoking - Nicotine causes small blood vessels to get smaller thereby increasing blood pressure

• Alcohol - Regular excessive alcohol consumption raises your risk.

• Sodium Consumption - Some people are sensitive to sodium in their food or water and the risk of HBP increases with consumption.  This is especially true of African Americans.

• Oral Contraceptive Use - Blood pressure increases in some women who are on the pill, and this effect is heightened if they also smoke.

• Sedentary Lifestyle - Not exercising means that the heart works less efficiently and blood vessels have less tone.

• Being Pregnant - The extra blood and weight of the pregnancy can increase pressure especially in women with a family history of HBP (even if they haven't had HBP before).

• Repressed Anger and Unmanaged Stress - Some studies show that people who don't express their anger or have excess stress have a higher risk of HBP and heart problems.

Things You Can Do To Prevent High Blood Pressure

• Exercise Regularly: Endurance exercises such as running, swimming, soccer, vigorous walking, and bicycling can help maintain general cardiovascular fitness.

• Maintain Ideal Weight: Lose extra pounds to help relieve the work load on your heart. Increase your activity level gradually while cutting back slightly on the fat and the calories in your diet.

• Eat Less Salt: Choose foods that say low salt or sodium on the label. Limit fast foods, cheese, hot dogs, deli meats, canned soups, and snack foods. Don't salt food at the table or in cooking.

• Avoid / Quit Smoking: Join a smoking Cessation class, or cut back on your smoking until you are able to quit.  There are many resources available

• Manage You Stress Better: Establish a pattern of doing relaxing activities such as meditation, reading, exercise, etc.

• Get adequate sleep and rest.

• Other: Eat a well balanced diet that includes adequate fruits and vegetables.

You can learn to monitor your own blood pressure. Come to a student health center for guidance and blood pressure checking equipment.

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