What is Hypertension?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis an elevated Blood Pressure (BP). It is a chronic medical condition, with no\ncure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nis Blood pressure? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blood\nPressure (BP) is the force of the blood against the walls of the blood vessels\nas it flows through them. The more pressure the blood exerts on the walls the\nhigher the blood pressure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nblood pressure is normal? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nnormal blood pressure is 90- 119\/60-79. Hypertension<\/strong>\nis defined as readings greater than or equals to 140\/90. Readings of 120- 139\/80-89\nhave been defined as pre-hypertension. This is an American classification for\npeople whose blood pressure are elevated above normal but not high enough to be\ndiagnosed as hypertensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there any symptoms ofhigh blood pressure? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often\nthere are no symptoms. However, symptoms that may occur include headaches,\nvisual disturbances, irregular heartbeat, nosebleeds, tiredness, confusion,\nchest pain and buzzing in the ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why\nis Hypertension Important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hypertension\nis important because of the complications that arise when it is not treated or\nif it is poorly treated. The possible complications include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

• Stroke<\/li>
• Kidney disease<\/li>
• Brain damage<\/li>
• Heart disease<\/li>
• Loss of vision <\/li>
• Heart attack<\/li>
• Damage to the blood vessels known\natherosclerosis<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

  How is hypertension treated?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  It can be controlled with medication and lifestyle changes\/non\npharmacological method. These lifestyle changes have been scientifically proven\nto lower blood pressure and are part of the British hypertensive society\nguidelines for the treatment of hypertension and pre-hypertension <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The non-pharmacological methods include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Weight reduction<\/li>
  • Regular aerobic exercise (e.g. walking)<\/li>
  • Reducing salt in the diet <\/li>
  • Diet rich in fruits, vegetable and low fat foods<\/li>
  • Discontinuing tobacco use<\/li>
  • Discontinuing alcohol consumption<\/li>
  • Reducing stress<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The\nmedications given are more commonly known as antihypertensive drugs<\/strong>. The drug is usually determined by your\ndoctor. It depends on the severity of the hypertension and the presence or\nabsence of any complication. The drugs once started are often continued for\nlife unless advised by your doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Can Hypertension be prevented and how?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yes it\ncan. There are various lifestyle changes which one can make to reduce their risk\nof developing hypertension. This is especially important if there is a positive\nfamily history or if you have already been diagnosed with pre-hypertension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Firstly,\nall people over the age of 18 years should have regular blood pressure checks.\nIf you are overweight, weight loss is strongly advised. Extra weight puts a\nstrain on your heart. Regular exercise, for at least 30 minutes, 3-4 times a\nweak reduces the risk of hypertension. Avoid smoking. Consume no more than 1-2\nunits of alcohol a day. Diabetics should aim to keep their sugar level under\ncontrol. Finally, avoid and try to minimize stress when possible. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What is Hypertension? This is an elevated Blood Pressure (BP). It is a chronic medical condition, with no cure. What is Blood pressure? Blood Pressure (BP) is the force of the blood against the walls of the blood vessels as it flows through them. The more pressure the blood exerts on the walls the higher…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[397,409,415,394,419,416,403,406,398,411,400,391,393,396,392,418,414,407,410,402,395,421,404,408,412,417,401,405,413,420,399],"yst_prominent_words":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/stnicholascdn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/23070033\/ST.NICHOLAS-HOSPITAL-WORLD-HYPERTENSION-DAY.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4849,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032\/revisions\/4849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4032"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.saintnicholashospital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}