Your Lifestyle and Your High Blood Pressure (Part 1)

Your Lifestyle and Your High Blood Pressure (Part 1)

Hypertension is a chronic (long-term) condition characterized by a persistent increase in blood pressure in our arteries. For this reason it is also known as high blood pressure (HBP). We may have come across this in many literatures called silent killer! Yes. It's definitely one. No one wants to reach the end of their life, at least not at an age when much work remains untouched, words remain unsaid, and special people remain unloved. This is where things get a little tricky. More than 50% of people with high blood pressure don't even know they have it! More like an insecure king who eats and eats with a traitor, and often many more traitors, as we shall foresee.

Here are some epidemiological facts that should serve as an eye-opener to understand what this is really about

Hypertension is generally of two types. A primary type and of course a secondary type. The primary type is caused by non-specific factors related to one's lifestyle or genetic predisposition. These factors include, but are not limited to, smoking, obesity, high salt intake, physical inactivity, depression and account for over 95% of the total hypertensive individuals. The remaining 5% or so have the secondary type of hypertension, which occurs or is due to known secondary causes such as chronic kidney disease, hormonal abnormalities, use of birth control pills, pregnancy, coarctation of the largest artery in the body. the aorta and stenosis of one or both renal arteries.

Fortunately, hypertension is one of those diseases that is easily preventable and then appropriate treatments, prevention techniques and management strategies are well implemented. This means that there is practically a way to determine your hypertensive status. This is essentially the case, but your blood pressure is checked frequently. If left unchecked, high blood pressure can cause:

1. Coronary artery disorder; a disease of the blood vessels that supplies the heart itself with nutrients and blood

2. Heart failure

3. Stroke

4. Blindness

5. Chronic kidney disease

6. Peripheral vascular disease

7. Multiple organ failure

8. Death

Why do I need to examine my lifestyle?

I would start with those who love salt so much that we even salt our soft drinks, drinking water and bath water. I would have to refocus our attention on the Ebola virus outbreak in Nigeria a few years ago, where various sacrilegious ideas emerged out of nowhere advising people to chew kola nuts with salt water and bathe with salt water. I hope we know that more people are said to have died from this act than from the outbreak of the disease.

The normal and most noticeable characteristic of salt in the body system is to carry as much water as possible. Therefore, the blood vessels become full and overloaded with fluid. The heart in response begins to overwork itself to compensate for the unnecessary increase in volume it must pump per cycle. Before you know what's happening, the heart begins to fail until it finally gives in to stress.

Next up is smoking. This is very bad and its medical significance goes beyond high blood pressure. It is the most important factor in the development of coronary artery disease. Smoking significantly increases the likelihood of developing high blood pressure in the long term. Alcohol, its close relative, is also a major player in the world of lifestyle diseases. Hypertension that occurs over any of these conditions is not good, let alone combining alcohol and smoking. I can imagine the great wall of Jericho falling flat again.

It is also worth mentioning a very common one, of which practically everyone is a culprit. This is practice. The standard approach to this is that you should exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, at least 3 days a week. This is the minimum you are allowed to go. Exercise simply helps your heart improve its function and enable it to handle an increased workload, unless you've indulged in a lot of salt or another substance that overloads your blood volume. Additionally, your heart rate increases and blood flows faster. These and much more are the wonderful effects of exercise on your body.

There is a serious relationship between high blood pressure and obesity. Obese people usually have impaired carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. As such, they are usually highly prone to diabetes mellitus and an underutilized high level of glucose in the blood is as harmful as salt in the blood. Bad lipids often build up on the walls of their arteries, reducing their diameter and restricting blood flow within them. This is one of the causes of high blood pressure in obese people; increased peripheral resistance of blood vessels.

Finally, in this episode of your health column, it would suffice to say that we see what you eat. Not much needs to be said about this. Eat well, eat smart and eat right!

Inspired by Nelson Udeme