High Blood Pressure

High Blood Pressure – your body tells you something needs to change!

High blood pressure — also known as hypertension — is disease. It is a sign that something is wrong in the body. In some people with hypertension, the culprit is a narrowing of the arteries supplying the kidneys (renal artery stenosis), or an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) or adrenal glands (aldosteronism). If these are treated, blood pressure drops back to normal. Most of the time, though, no immediate cause can be identified. Doctors call this essential hypertension.
Effects on health
High blood pressure imposes an up-front burden in people who know they have it and who are working to control it. It adds to worries about health. It alters what you eat and how active you are, since a low-salt diet and exercise are important ways to help keep blood pressure in check. High blood pressure often requires you to take one or more pills a day, which can be a costly hassle. (up to 3 million THB in average for a middle income Thai or Bangkok resident, during a lifetime)
There are long-term consequences, too. High blood pressure contributes to the development of:

• stroke
• heart attack
• heart failure
• and kidney disease
• Eye disease

In the United States, it directly accounts for about 60,000 deaths a year and contributes to another 300,000 and this despite taking medication. WHO estimates that in 2015 every 3rd Asian will be affected by a High Blood Pressure related disease.
Then there are hidden burdens. Perhaps because of all the ways hypertension interferes with health, the average life span for people with it is five years shorter than it is for those with normal blood pressure. A team of Spanish researchers has tallied up another hidden drain of high blood pressure — its effect on survival and rehospitalization after someone is admitted to the hospital for a heart problem.
The researchers looked at 1,007 men and women admitted to the hospital over a 10-month period for any potentially heart-related problem. These ranged from chest pain and fainting to heart attack, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and pericarditis. In this group, 69% had been diagnosed with high blood pressure before being admitted to the hospital.
Each person was followed for one year. At the end of that time, 17% of those with high blood pressure had died, compared with 9% of those with normal blood pressure. Rehospitalization for a cardiac problem followed the same pattern: 31% of those with high blood pressure were rehospitalized, while only 18% of those without it were.
 Keeping the burden at bay
It is possible to blunt the effects of hypertension by keeping blood pressure in check with nutrition and lifestyle choices. Preventing it from getting started is possible is even better.
How? The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the American Heart Association offer these recommendations:

• Control your weight.
• Exercise regularly.
• Follow a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Limit sodium intake, increase potassium and fiber
• Drink alcohol in moderation, if at all
• Reduce stress
• Check your blood pressure regularly

Resource: Harvard Medical School

Do you need assistance in keeping your High Blood Pressure and related disease at bay or even better, prevent it?
Would you like to save lots of money, pain and time not spend in hospitals?
Take your health into your own hands today and let us help you to adjust your diet and lifestyle choices – absolutely pain free and cost effective!