Take These Steps To Keep Your Blood Pressure In Check

Main Category: Hypertension
Article Date: 13 Jul 2007 - 1:00 PST

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"Growing but silent." That's how Joseph Marek, M.D., a cardiologist with Midwest Heart Specialists in Downers Grove, describes high blood pressure. It has no symptoms or obvious signs and becomes more prevalent as individuals age, gain weight and become less active.

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls. Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood throughout the body, resulting in the highest blood pressure as the heart contracts (the systolic pressure) and the lowest pressure when the heart relaxes (the diastolic pressure).

With high blood pressure, the arteries may have an increased resistance against the flow of blood, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood, Marek said. "Having high blood pressure directly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke," he said.

Know your numbers

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute guidelines define optimal blood pressure as less than 120 systolic pressure and less than 80 diastolic pressure. This is commonly written as 120/80 and spoken as "120 over 80."

A single elevated blood pressure measurement is not necessarily an indication of a problem. "Your physician will want to see multiple blood pressure measurements over several days or weeks before making a diagnosis of hypertension (high blood pressure) and initiating treatment," Marek said.

Take control

Lifestyle choices such as increasing activity and improving food choices can help to reduce high blood pressure, said Marek. He recommends that individuals take the following actions.

-- Choose foods that are lower in salt.
-- Maintain a healthy weight, or lose weight if overweight.
-- Reduce and manage stress.
-- Increase physical activity and establish a formal exercise routine.

Despite adopting these healthy behaviors, some people must take daily medication to control high blood pressure.

Take your meds

Marek said the biggest misconception individuals have about treating high blood pressure is that the treatment causes side effects. "This is very rare with currently available medications," he said. "The primary benefit of treating high blood pressure in its early stages can slow the progression to higher, more dangerous blood pressure levels."

A free heart disease risk assessment calculator is available on the Web side of Midwest Heart Specialists, http://www.midwestheart.com.

For more information on lowering and controlling blood pressure, visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Web site at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov and select "Blood Pressure."

The Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center is a 90,000 square foot fitness center with three indoor pools, a track, an extensive fitness floor and weight room, three group exercise studios (including Yoga and Pilates studios) and a basketball court, located in Downers Grove, Illinois. Serving the western suburbs of Chicago, the Wellness Center is the only advisory member of the Medical Fitness Association in DuPage County. As part of Advocate Health Care, Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center can be reached by visiting http://www.advocatehealth.com/goodsam.

Article written by Diane Ahern, Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center

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