Under the microscope: High blood pressure
More than 16 million people have high blood pressure and 5 million of us don't know about it until it causes problems. Find out what the symptoms are and how can you lower yours
What is blood pressure?
Blood pressure is the pressure placed on the body's blood vessels by circulating blood. Because our circulation varies throughout the day, depending on whether we are resting or being active, our blood pressure also varies. If blood pressure is consistently high or low it's a sign that there could be an underlying health problem that is affecting the pressure of blood circulating around the body.
How is blood pressure measured?
Two readings are taken when you have your blood pressure measured. A cuff is placed around the top of the arm, which is connected to a machine. The cuff is tightened and the machine then reads the force of pressure in your body. It's measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). The two readings are for systolic pressure, which is when your blood pressure goes up and diastolic pressure, when your blood pressure goes down. The reading will be systolic pressure over diastolic pressure. A healthy reading for an adult is 120 over 80mmHg or lower.
What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is when you have a reading of 140/90mmHg or more. This indicates that your blood vessels are having more difficulty than normal pumping blood around the body. High blood pressure can lead to a stroke or heart disease.
What causes high blood pressure?
High blood pressure occurs for many different reasons. As you get older high blood pressure is a risk but there are other diet and lifestyle factors that contribute, such as obesity, a family history of high blood pressure or stroke, medication, smoking, drinking, eating too much salt, stress and your ethnic origin - people of African or Afro-Caribbean descent have a greater risk.
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
There are often no symptoms of high blood pressure or immediate problems, which is why it is so important to get regular health checks, especially if you smoke, are overweight, stressed or drink a lot of alcohol.
How can high blood pressure be treated?
You might be able to change your blood pressure by changing your diet and lifestyle. But your GP may also prescribe pills to regulate your blood pressure. It's likely that they'll also advise you to swap to a low fat diet, cut back on salt, reduce your alcohol units and lower your stress levels.
What is low blood pressure?
Low blood pressure, also called hypotension, is when you have a reading of around 90/60mmHg. This indicates that your body is slower than normal at pushing blood around the blood vessels.
What causes low blood pressure?
There are lots of reasons for low blood pressure. Often it's a side-effect of medication. As you get older low blood pressure can occur because your blood vessels lose their elasticity. You may feel faint when you stand up suddenly, this this is an indication of low blood pressure and is called postural hypotension.
There are other reasons why low blood pressure occurs but these are quite rare. Damage to the nerves supplying your blood vessels, caused by diabetes, can bring down your blood pressure. Internal bleeding and poor nutrition can also result in low blood pressure.
What are the symptoms of low blood pressure?
Like high blood pressure there are no specific symptoms. You may feel faint regularly, tired all the time and dizzy. These are also symptoms of anaemia, which is quite common in women, and ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome). If you experience any of these symptoms or you just don't feel yourself you should see your GP.
How can low blood pressure be treated?
Unless it's a sign of a serious illness it won't be treated specifically but your doctor will probably advise you to adjust your diet and lifestyle. You may need to increase your intake of high GI foods or sleep with your pillows raised.
There is some good news if you have low blood pressure. You have some protection against the causes of high blood pressure such as eating too much salt, or being overweight.
Where to next?
- Read more on blood pressure
- Find your perfect diet with our brilliant diet quiz
- How do you know when you need to see the doc?
- Find your health condition
By Louise O'Connell
Average rating:
Where to next?
-
High blood pressure (hypertension)
-
'I had high blood pressure at 21'
-
Dementia: link to high blood pressure
-
Chicken pox: under the microscope
-
Gout: Under the microscope
-
Too much salt is killing us
-
Under the microscope: ADHD
-
Under the microscope: Alopecia
-
Under the microscope: Cystitis
-
Under the microscope: Dementia
-
Under the microscope: Depression
Please leave a comment, tip or story in the box below
Symptoms of High Blood Pressure, 3 months
Hello. You can have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. That's why it's the silent killer it creeps up on you. So you need to maintain your good health and do not avoid being stress. Hope this could help. Thanks and have a nice day. :) <a href="http://www.symptomsofhighbloodpressure.info/">symptomsofhighbloodpressure.info</a>
Report this comment
High Blood Pressure Symptons, 3 months
Hello. I am so glad that this article was written. It seriously helped me so much and I really appreciate your post. Thanks for the information about this topic. Thanks and god bless. :)
Report this comment