What you need to know about hypertension as you start ageing

Blood pressure is the force of blood against the inner walls of your arteries. It has normal fluctuations throughout the day falling when you’re relaxed or asleep, rising naturally in the morning, and increasing temporarily when you’re under stress, excited or exercising.

But when your resting blood pressure level rises too high, it can scar, stiffen and/or weaken blood vessels. This effect can double your risk for a heart attack; quadruple your odds for a stroke; raise your risk for heart failure, vision loss, kidney problems, dementia and circulation problems such as peripheral artery disease (which causes pain in your legs) and weaken your bones.

You may be at an increased risk for high blood pressure if you smoke, are overweight, eat a diet that’s low on produce and fiber and/or high in fat and salt, drink alcohol to excess, live with chronic stress or don’t get much physical activity.

A healthy lifestyle is a strong shield against high blood pressure and its damaging effects.

AMRI Hospitals lists these steps that can lower your risk and also help lower your numbers if you already have pre-hypertension or hypertension.

1. Lose a little weight. Excess weight—and especially excess fat stored in your abdomen—can raise blood pressure by increasing your blood volume and by changing the balance of pressure-regulating hormones.

2. Cut back on alcohol. “Moderating alcohol is very important. If you are a man who has more than two drinks a day or a woman who has more than one drink a day, cut back.” While a little alcohol may relax arteries, too much seems to have the opposite effect.

3. Move more. Exercise and other kinds of physical activity help keep arteries flexible and also reduce activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which can tighten blood vessels and boost blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, regular exercise alone could lower your numbers by 8 to 10 points.

4. Feed healthy blood pressure. The minerals calcium, magnesium and potassium (found in low-fat and fat-free dairy products, such as milk and yogurt, as well as in produce and dried beans) help your body regulate blood pressure. Too little can raise your blood pressure. So can high amounts of sodium—found in many processed foods—by making your body retain water (which boosts blood volume) and even tightening small blood vessels. Saturated fat (found in meat, cheese, butter, full-fat dairy products and many processed foods) may also raise blood pressure.

5. Quit smoking. Smoking damages arteries and raises the risk of heart disease. While you’re having a cigarette, the chemicals in tobacco products elevate blood pressure too.

6. Soothe stress. It’s not clear whether mind-body therapies have a lasting effect on blood pressure or reduce the risk, but it is known that the body’s stress response releases hormones that temporarily raise blood pressure. You’ll feel better, and find it easier to make other healthy changes, if you regularly practice a stress-soothing technique such as breathing exercises, progressive relaxation and fitness activities. One technique, meditation, has been shown to reduce the risk for heart attacks and strokes in people with high blood pressure.