High Blood Pressure: The Silent Killer
Posted on December 23, 2015
One of the major risk factors for developing heart disease is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the relationship between the amount of blood your heart pumps and the resistance of the blood flow through your arteries. Your blood pressure increases when your heart needs to pump more blood (like during exercise) and your arteries narrow increasing your blood pressure. The concern becomes if you consistently have a high blood pressure, the walls of the arteries will harden making it easier for plaque to build up. With plaque build-up in your arteries it can slow or resist the flow of blood and lead to a heart attack. Check out the live demonstration of how this can happen.
Likely everyone has had their blood pressure checked at some point. Whether it is at the doctor’s office or you’ve checked it yourself at your local pharmacy, you have the blood pressure cuff on your arm and then were told two numbers. Well the first number (systolic) is your heart at work pumping blood into your arteries. The second number (diastolic) is your heart at rest filling up with blood between beats. Normal blood pressure is around 120/80mmHG. To learn more about what your blood pressure reading means check out this video.
Chronic high blood pressure is known as hypertension and is defined as a blood pressure of 140/90mmHg. Unfortunately, high blood pressure is often called the silent killer. Many people are unaware they even have high blood pressure because there are no warning signs or symptoms. But hypertension is a major risk factor for developing heart disease and needs to be managed to reduce further health complications.
So what can you do to manage your blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease? Here are some tips on how you can take control of your health:
- Find out if you are at risk for high blood pressure. You can take a self-assessment such as this one from the Ottawa Heart Institute.
- Monitor your blood pressure. Take your blood pressure on a regular basis as there are few signs and symptoms of high blood pressure.
- Eat a well-balanced health diet. Consider the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension)
- Maintain a healthy weight. For every kg of weight loss it can reduce your blood pressure by 1.1/0.9mmHG.
- Be active. Regular exercise can lower your blood pressure and help you maintain a healthy weight.
- Manage stress. Set aside time to relax each day and get plenty of sleep.
