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  High Blood Pressure Is A Very Dangerous Problem Which Normally Has A Simple SolutionOver the past few years changes in lifestyle and diet in the majority of western societies have led to a rise in the number of individuals suffering from high blood pressure.High blood pressure (otherwise referred to as hypertension, or more properly arterial hypertension) is a dangerous condition which seldom has any symptoms and which, if left undetected and untreated, can cause stroke, arterial aneurysm, heart attack, heart failure or renal failure � all of which are potentially serious life-threatening conditions. So exactly what is hypertension and exactly what causes it? The arteries within your body are constantly filled with blood which produces a normal 'background' pressure against the walls of the arteries. As your heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood around your body it pushes this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure exerted on the walls of the arteries during every heartbeat. These two pressures are refrred to as the systolic pressure (the higher pressure as the heart is pumping) and the diastolic pressure (the lower normal or 'background' pressure). Normal levels of blood pressure differ from one person to the next but, usually, systolic pressure ought to be approximately 120mm and diastolic pressure ought to be in the region of 80mm. This is ordinarily shown as a blood pressure of 120/80. Whenever your blood pressure starts to rise and remains at a level above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, despite the fact that this is not in itself serious, it is an indication that you could be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems associated with it. If your blood pressure rises to, and remains at, a level of 140/90 or above you are suffering from hypertension and steps need to be taken to lower your blood pressure. So just what makes you blood pressure rise and stay elevated? Well, there are numerous factors at play here and to begib there is a group over which you have little, if any, control. This group of factors includes a low birth weight, several genetic factors, some types of diabetes (especially type 2 diabetes) and your age (as we grow older the arteries tend to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, resulting in a smaller cross-sectional area for the blood to flow through). The next group of factors is far more controllable and includes stress, a sedentary lifestyle, being overweight, alcohol abuse, high levels of salt and saturated fats in your diet, smoking and working in certain occupations such as motorway maintenance or flying. The vast majority of these factors are of course treatable and, in many cases, a simple change in your diet and the addition of a bit of exercise into your daily routine is all that is needed to cure the problem. However, the difficulty is that, without any real symptoms, the vast majority of individuals are not aware that they have hypertension to start with. So how can you go about curing the problem? Luckily the answer to this particular question is quite simple. All you have to do is to pop into your physician's office regularly (for most of us a couple of times a year should be sufficient) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure. The process is painless, easy and fast and will provide you with peace of mind and could save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense down the road when you are forced to drop by his office once high blood pressure rears its ugly head. If you are not all that keen on calling in to see your doctor then a very good alternative today is to simply check your own blood pressure. A wide range of simple to operate and quite inexpensive monitors are now available, allowing you to maintain a check on your health, and the health of of your complete family, in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Free Article Source: http://www.za77.org About The Author: TheBloodPressureCenter.com provides information on a variety of topics including salt and high blood pressure, the importance of blood pressure monitoring and finding the best Omron blood pressure monitor |