High blood pressure is an extremely common health condition which does not cause noticeable symptoms. Symptoms of high blood pressure are usually mistaken for less serious health conditions. The symptoms of high blood pressure which do show include the likes of dizziness and stomach pain. These are the primary reasons why you must check your blood pressure daily. It is also important to know signs of hypertensive crisis, a situation when the blood pressure rises quickly and severely, and can lead to further complications such as heart attack, stroke, damage to eyes and loss of kidney function.
Hypertensive crisis can be a life-threatening condition. Common symptoms of hypertensive crisis, according to American Heart Association, include severe anxiety, nosebleeds, severe headaches and shortness of breath. Immediate medical attention is needed in case a person who experiences sudden increase in blood pressure along with hypertensive crisis.
Hypersensitive crisis usually falls under two categories: urgent and emergency. An urgent hypertensive crisis occurs when you have extremely high blood pressure, but the doctor finds no damage to the organs. In case of an emergency hypertensive crisis situation, the blood pressure is extremely high and there is also a damage caused to organs. Emergency hypertensive crisis can be life-threatening.
High blood pressure can be kept under control by some simple yet effective lifestyle modifications. A healthy diet and regular exercise is the key to keeping blood pressure under control. Intake of alcohol should be avoided under all circumstances. Also, people with high blood pressure should add less salt to their food and avoid foods high in sodium such as processed and packaged foods.
Hypertension: Other effective ways to keep blood pressure under control
1. Watch your waist line: For keeping your blood pressure under control, it is important that you lose weight and watch your waistline. Carrying too much weight around your waist line can put you at great risk of high blood pressure. Men who have a waistline of greater than 40 inches are at risk of high blood pressure and women who have waistline greater than 35 inches are also at high risk.
2. Exercise regularly: A minimum of 150 minutes of exercise is important to keep your blood pressure under control. Aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, cycling, swimming and dancing are all good for keeping your blood pressure under control.
3. Eat a healthy diet: Make sure that your diet includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Include more of foods rich in potassium in your diet as it helps in reducing effect of sodium on blood pressure. Foods rich in potassium include bananas, avocados, spinach, mushrooms, peas, cucumbers, broccoli, oranges and sweet potatoes to name a few.
4. Quit smoking: Smoking increases your blood pressure for many minutes after you finish smoking. Quit smoking to enable your body to restore normal levels of blood pressure.
5. Cut back caffeine: Caffeine can increase your blood pressure levels. Limit your caffeine intake to keep your blood pressure levels under control.
6. Take less stress:Stress is a major contributor to high blood pressure levels. Take less stress by indulging in hobbies or by simply changing your attitude towards stress. Yoga and meditation are also good ways of reducing stress.
