If you suffer from hypertension or high blood pressure then you will need to see about lowering high blood pressure. A normal blood pressure is considered to be at lower than 120/80 and anything above–0/90 is considered to be high and your heart is putting too much pressure on your arteries.

The top number in a blood pressure reading is the systolic pressure and this relates to the force of blood in the arteries as the heart contracts and the bottom number is the diastolic pressure. The diastolic pressure is the force of blood in the arteries during the heart’s resting stage between beats.

High blood pressure can be quite serious as its long term symptoms are very dangerous and life threatening. High blood pressure can lead to eye damage, brain damage, stroke, hardening of the arteries, kidney damage and heart disease. Any organ damage is considered an end result as this occurs after many years of high blood pressure and death can soon follow.

If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure you need to begin treatment to lower your blood pressure back to normal ranges. There are some lifestyle changes you can make that help in lowering high blood pressure which include following a healthy diet. What you eat will affect your body and a diet that is high in fresh vegetables and fruits and low in fat is much better for a healthy body. Reducing the salt and sodium content in your diet is important as too much salt can exacerbate high blood pressure.

Being overweight will also increase your blood pressure so maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight can help your blood pressure. Drinking too much alcohol and smoking have also been known to increase your blood pressure thus stopping smoking and reducing your alcohol consumption can decrease your high blood pressure.

There are several types of medication that can be used in lowering high blood pressure. These include diuretics as these pills help to flush excess water and sodium out of the body from the kidneys. Beta blockers will cause the heart to beat slower and less forcefully so that your heart is not working as hard and your blood pressure lowers. ACE or Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors stop the production of a hormone, angiotensin II. This hormone makes blood vessels become narrower which can increase blood pressure.

Having too much calcium in the heart can cause the heart to become tense. A calcium channel blocker can be used to relax blood vessels and the heart. Alpha blockers will affect your nervous system so that it allows for better blood flow by stopping some nerve messages. Alpha-beta-blockers are a combination of alpha blockers and beta blockers so this medication slows downs the heart and causes blood flow to be smoother.

Tags: Health

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