May is High Blood Pressure Education Month, when people are encouraged to get their blood pressure checked regularly and to look at various lifestyle factors that may be contributing to high blood pressure. Because high blood pressure can shorten life expectancy and cause some serious health problems – many of which are also avoidable. Read on!
Did you know … ?
- High blood pressure is known as “the silent killer” because there are rarely any physical symptoms associated with it, which makes it that much more important to check your blood pressure regularly.
- Half of all Americans have high blood pressure, yet a third of all women with high blood pressure don’t know they have it.
- High blood pressure is the biggest risk factor for a stroke. A stroke can occur at any age. In fact, one in seven strokes occur in adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 49.
- Heart disease is the leading cause of death among Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
- Each year, stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer. Up to 80% of strokes can be prevented.
High blood pressure can cause or lead to health problems.
Blood pressure higher than 130/80 mm Hg is considered high blood pressure, or hypertension – which damages blood vessels and can cause serious, possibly deadly health conditions, including:
- Heart disease. Hypertension can cause blood vessels to become blocked, leading to a heart attack. Sixty-nine percent of people who have a heart attack for the first time have high blood pressure.
- Stroke. Hypertension can cause blood vessels to burst or clog more easily, which could lead to a stroke if it happens in the brain. Seventy-seven percent of people who have a stroke for the first time have high blood pressure.
- Vision loss. Hypertension can cause blood vessels in the back of the eyes to rupture or make the optic nerve swell, causing loss of vision.
- Kidney disease. When damaged blood vessels stop kidneys from getting the blood they need to function, kidneys can no longer filter waste from the blood properly. High blood pressure is the second-leading cause of kidney failure.
- Dementia. Hypertension can damage the small blood vessels in the brain, affecting the parts of the brain responsible for thinking and memory.
- Sexual dysfunction. Blood vessel damage from hypertension reduces blood flow throughout the body. Lower blood flow to the pelvis can result in erectile dysfunction in men and lower libido in women.
Have your blood pressure checked at each healthcare provider visit.
What treatments have proven effective for high blood pressure?
Healthy eating and lifestyle changes are often the first treatments for hypertension because they have a big effect on blood pressure. In fact, the Mayo Clinic recommends these 10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication:
- Lose extra pounds and watch your waistline. In general, men are at risk if their waist measurement is more than 40 inches; women if their waist measures more than 35 inches.
- Exercise regularly. Regular physical activity can lower high blood pressure by about 5 to 8 mm Hg.
- Eat a healthy diet. A diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and low in saturated fat and cholesterol can lower high blood pressure by up to 11 mm Hg.
- Reduce salt (sodium) in your diet. Even a small reduction of sodium in the diet can improve heart health and reduce high blood pressure by about 5 to 6 mm Hg.
- Limit alcohol. Limiting alcohol to less than one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men can help lower blood pressure by about 4 mm Hg. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.
- Quit smoking. Smoking increases blood pressure. Stopping smoking helps lower blood pressure and also reduces the risk of heart disease while improving overall health and life expectancy.
- Get a good night’s sleep. Poor sleep quality – getting fewer than six hours of sleep every night for several weeks – can contribute to hypertension.
- Reduce stress. Practicing mindful meditation for even 10 minutes a day helps relieve stress.
- Monitor your blood pressure at home and get regular checkups. This may be the most important thing you can do to manage your hypertension. Home blood pressure monitors are available widely and without a prescription, but talk to your healthcare provider before starting. Click here for our blood pressure log to help you keep tabs on your BP readings.
- Get support. Supportive family and friends are important to good health. If you find you need support beyond this initial circle, consider joining a support group – or contact us about your health plan’s health coaching benefit.
Learn more online.
For more information about high blood pressure from us and our partners:
- Discover more information from us about high blood pressure here, including a helpful video explaining how to take your blood pressure at home.
- Learn all about high blood pressure causes, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and management, from our friends at Carle Health.
- Listen to this podcast from Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System about understanding high blood pressure.
And find a wealth of additional information and resources about blood pressure from our partners at Reid Health, Riverside Healthcare and FirstHealth of the Carolinas.