High Blood Pressure Symptoms and Treatment | How to Manage High BP

High blood pressure or hypertension is quite a deadly disease if it is not controlled with proper medication and change in lifestyle. Know about the hypertension symptoms and high BP causes. We hope this lifestyle disease article will help you with an effective high blood pressure management to keep high BP under a check.

Often called as a silent killer, high blood pressure is a chronic medical condition in which the blood flow through the arteries is at a very high rate than the normal pressures. To put in simple words, anything over 120/80 reading of the blood pressure is termed as high blood pressure or high BP. The numerator of your blood pressure reading is called as systolic pressure which is the maximum pressure while the denominator is called as the diastolic pressure which indicates the minimum pressure.

Technically known as Hypertension, high BP is not visibly detected unless it is checked by a doctor or on a BP machine. It is only through the symptoms that one gets a doubt whether he/she is having high BP or not. High BP often goes undetected for years unless the person gets badly affected.

Doctor taking BP reading of a high BP patient

Common Symptoms of High BP

• Blurred Vision
• Bursts of Anger
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Neck Pain
• Shortness of Breath

In most cases, high BP is genetically inherited but this chronic disease can also be a result of being overweight. High BP is common in people over 40s and 50s but it is not that uncommon among the ages of 30s because of the changing lifestyle and lack of exercise which has raised the obesity levels in the current generation. While taking a doctor’s prescribed medicine is unavoidable, a person with high BP is advised to engage in increased physical activities. Even simple walking can be effective in controlling high BP or hypertension.

Reduce Sodium Intake to Control High Blood Pressure

The main culprit behind High BP is sodium which is found in the salt in our food. The first and common advice that any doctors would give a high BP patient is to reduce the daily salt intake. Thankfully for those who cannot eat less salty foods can go in for low sodium salts which are easily available in supermarkets. So it is critical to cut down on the sodium intake to keep a check on high BP. Try avoiding restaurant food, fast foods, spicy food, pickles, and any packaged and processed foods that have preservatives.

High Blood Pressure Diet

Another way to counter attack the sodium levels in your body and neutralize them is by increasing the intake of potassium. Some of the potassium rich foods are bananas, potatoes, spinach, oranges and fish to name a few. You can also look to cut down on your weight to manage your high BP which if not controlled can become your silent killer leading to heart problems.

High BP Complications:

• Aneurysms
• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Cognitive Changes
• Eye Damage
• Heart Failure
• Heart Stroke
• Peripheral Arterial Disease
• Pulmonary Embolisms
• Vascular Dementia