High blood pressure (hypertension)
goodtoknow says: High blood pressure (hypertension) simply means that the blood pressure in your arteries is too high. 1 in 3 women in the UK have high blood pressure and the higher it is, the greater your health risk, but there's plenty you can do to lower it. Losing weight, eating healthily, cutting down on alcohol and giving up smoking are an excellent start. Several drugs can help too, which your doctor will tell you about. High blood pressure often has no symptoms. So if you've just been diagnosed, don't panic. It means you can be treated and avoid serious illness.
For a full medical explanation of the causes, symptoms and treatments of hypertension from patient.co.uk, read on.
Having high blood pressure is one of several 'risk factors' that can increase your chance of developing heart disease, a stroke, and other serious conditions. As a rule, the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk. Treatment includes a change in lifestyle risk factors where these can be improved - losing weight if you are overweight, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, cutting back if you drink a lot of alcohol, stopping smoking and a low salt intake. If needed, medication can lower blood pressure.
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