Stress and Blood Pressure
By: Becky Griffin
The Holidays are finally over, and now you can take a breath and slow down... well, until you get the credit card bills from Santa ... and, until you start your diet ... and, until you start worrying about keeping your New Year's Resolutions ... and, the list goes on and on! Let's face it; the American lifestyle is full of worries and frustrations, and “busy-ness.” This takes a toll on your body and may negatively affect your blood pressure. It’s important to know that you can have high blood pressure for years without any symptoms. As many as 1 in 4 adults have high blood pressure (hypertension). Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease and was known as the primary or contributing cause of death for 360,000 Americans in 2010. This "silent killer" can be evil or it can be controlled when easily detected with a quick blood pressure check.
Blood pressure is the force of blood against your artery walls as it circulates through your body. Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day, but it can cause health problems if it stays high for a long time. High blood pressure has many risk factors. Some you can control and some you can't. These risk factors include:
-Age: As your age increases, so does your risk of high blood pressure.
-Race: African Americans are more likely to develop high blood pressure than Caucasian Americans.
-Diabetes: About 60% of folks who have diabetes also have high blood pressure.
-Hereditary: High blood pressure can run in families. The risk can increase even more when heredity is combined with unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking cigarettes and eating a poor diet.
-Sodium: Too much salt is bad for your blood pressure. Most Americans should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day. Sodium is typically high in packaged and processed foods.
-Weight: The more you weigh the more blood you need to get oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your artery walls.
-Lack of exercise
-Smoking
-Alcohol: Drinking more than 1-2 drinks per day can elevate your blood pressure.
-Stress: I've found that in my “busy-ness” of being a mom, wife and working woman my body is stressed even if I don't feel like or think I am.
There are many treatment options available should your doctor find that you do, in fact, have high blood pressure. Many times, hypertension can be lowered by weight loss, exercise and eating a more healthy diet. Many times though, high blood pressure will require you to take medication. Generally, medication therapy does give the patient very good results.
So have your blood pressure checked regularly, and for goodness sakes, don't stress about it. Just get it checked and if need be, make an appointment with your doctor so you can get a start on taking the necessary steps to get it under control.
This information provided by Becky Griffin, co-owner of Ashlyn Drugs, located on the corner of 278 and Old Harris Rd (Humpback Road), Dallas. For more info on blood pressure medications, call 770-443-0205.