3 easy steps to manage High Blood Pressure

On 12.12.12 | In Heart Health | by Dr Manisha Deokar | 0 Comments

High blood pressure, common medical condition is one of risk factor for developing heart and
circulatory diseases. Blood pressure is pressure of blood in your arteries, pressure of blood

changes at different time.

What does numbers mean ?
Normal blood pressure is 120/80 mm of hg. The top number represent higher level of your blood
pressure when your heart contract and pump the blood to arteries, it is called as Systolic Blood
Pressure ( SBP ) .
Second number represent lower level of blood pressure as your heart relaxes in between two
contractions and is called as Diastolic Blood Pressure ( DBP ) .
What are main symptoms?
High BP – Hypertension – means your blood pressure remains constantly higher than normal.
Most of cases of high blood pressure are asymptomatic.
Though common age of presentation of high blood pressure is 45 to 50 but now days with
incidence of lifestylediseases , stress , addictions , lack of exercise and wrong food choices .
hypertension is also detected at higher age group like 30 to 35.
Most of cases of hypertension are asymptomatic. If not detected in time , most of the cases are
diagnosed with complications of High BP like myocardial infarction ( Heart Attack ) and / Stroke (
paralysis ) .
Common symptoms of blood pressure include persistent headache. Sometimes associated with
giddiness, fainting, nose bleeding, in very high level blood pressure person usually lands up with
stroke of heart attack.
Is only one high reading of BP is serious?
Only one high reading of blood pressure does not means you are suffering from high blood
pressure, it is expected to check blood pressure on two different occasions. 15 days apart before
 we come to conclusion of high blood pressure . It is also expected that we record blood pressure
in sitting as well as supine position in calm and quit environment.
Diagnosis done, Now what’s Next ?
Once you are diagnosed as hypertensive we must start taking effort to maintain blood pressure
within normal level.
Three easy steps,
1 Required health screening : ECG , Stress Test , Lipid Profile , Blood sugar , Kidney tests like
Creatinine and Urine examination
2 Diet and Lifestyle modification : As hypertension is one important risk factor for heart diseases,
heart attack, stroke and kidney failure, diet and lifestyle modification is essential to control blood
pressure at early stage.
Regular exercise stress free lifestyle, no smoking, no alcohol, salt restricted and maintaining
your BMI ( Body Mass Index ) within normal limit plays important in managing high blood
pressure. This also help to control blood pressure with no medication or low dose of medication
at initial stages .
3 Start of Anti Hypertensive Drugs : In advance cases of blood pressure its advice to start
antihypertensive drug along with diet and lifestyle changes to maintain blood pressure at optimum
level. Its advice to start with one dose of antihypertensive at one time and increase its dose to
maximum possible before we another antihypertensive drug
Targets?
 Target your blood pressure to 120/ 80 or maximum 130/80 mm hg
 Regular blood pressure monitoring in one month is essential
 Self monitoring of blood pressure is also encouraged.