Blood pressure why you should care?

Blood pressure is one of the most common predictors of other diseases, including stroke, heart attacks , kidney failure and dementia. It naturally increases over our lifetime, but there are many lifestyle changes you can make which can positively impact your blood pressure. 

In the UK, high blood pressure is the third biggest risk factor for all disease after smoking and poor diet.

ref: Public Health England 2017

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Your blood pressure reading indicates how hard your blood is being pushed through your arteries by the heart. As we age our arteries have a reduction in elastic tissue and  become stiffer and more narrow making the heart work harder to pump the blood round our body.  When there is consistently high blood pressure, it can cause the heart to enlarge, which is less effective than a normal sized heart.

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Any doctor's surgery or clinic can measure your blood pressure. It is also  easy to do this at home with your own equipment.  Take multiple measurements at different times of the day and follow instructions on any device you buy.

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Healthy range for your blood pressure

As a general guide:

Ideal blood pressure is considered to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg
High blood pressure is considered to be 140/90mmHg or higher
Low blood pressure is considered to be 90/60mmHg or lower

Ref: NHS website

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If you discover you have high blood pressure contact a medical professional immediately. ‍

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Importance of tackling high blood pressure

Approximately 54% of strokes and 47% of coronary heart diseases, worldwide, are attributable to high Blood Pressure

Reference 2015 study

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High blood pressure has been proven to;

• Increase risk of a heart attack and stroke ‍
• Risk of dementia is higher
• Decrease your life expectancy if you suffer a heart attack or stroke.
• Higher risk of kidney failure

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Causes of high and low blood pressure

• Genes, race, gender and age all carry risk factors for high blood pressure.
• Lifestyle factors such as diet, weight, exercise, smoking or drinking. ‍
• Stress
• ‘Selfish brain’ theory - if the brain does not get enough blood flow it can increase your blood pressure

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Ways to reduce your blood pressure

1. Reduce your salt intake evidence is unambiguous on the correlation
2. Healthy diet with fruit, vegetables and fibre
3. Stop smoking and reduce alcohol intake 
4. Arm grip exercises
5. Reducing stress through mindfulness
6. Being active, evidence has shown people who participate in Yoga can contribute to lower blood pressure
7. Lowering BMI 
8. Taking medication usually prescribed after the above lifestyle changes have been made.