Lower Blood Pressure

Blood Pressure Treatment Choices

Blood pressure treatment can seem confusing and the range of options available for anyone with high blood pressure grows day by day.

You or your doctor may choose to treat your blood pressure by medication, by lifestyle advice, by altering your diet or by doing all of these things and more.

This blood pressure site has grown a lot in scope and size since I first started producing it so, if you are visiting for the first time, here's a review of what's available.

You can explore the choice of blood pressure measuring machines now available and read about how to properly check blood pressure at home.

Discover how weight loss lowers blood pressure and find out if changing your diet will improve your heart health.

Read how to understand your blood pressure readings and find out about white coat high blood pressure.

If you look to the bottom of each page you will also find a summary of the most recently published articles.

I hope you enjoy the site and find it useful. Don't forget to sign up for regular blood pressure news updates in the box below

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, diet-and-blood-pressure

1. Keep control of your blood pressure
   That's what this website is all about of course.
   Blood pressure is the pressure of the blood against the walls of the arteries. Blood pressure has two readings - systolic and diastolic. The higher (systolic) number represents the pressure while the heart contracts to pump blood to the body. The lower (diastolic) number represents the pressure when the heart relaxes between beats. Blood pressure below 140/85 mmHg is considered optimal for adults but this reading should be less if you have diabetes or other heart attack risk factors
   
   


2. Lower Your Cholesterol Readings
   
   Here's what your optimal numbers should be:
   Total cholesterol less than 200
   LDL-cholesterol less than 100
   HDL-cholesterol at 40 or higher
   Cholesterol ratio (total chol/HDL) at less than 5
   
   These are the figures as they are measured in the US. In Europe the corresponding levels are 4.0 for total cholesterol and greater than 1.0 for HDL.
   
   
   
3. Be Active Every Day
   Regular exercise helps control your weight (which in turn helps lower LDL-cholesterol and blood pressure). On most days, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity and more if you need to lose weight.
   
   


4. Lose that tummy
   Research shows that its where you carry fat - NOT necessarily how much fat you’re carrying - that increases the risk of calcium and plaque buildup in the arteries of the heart.
   
   Abdominal fat - as opposed to fat around the hips - seems to trigger a chain of inflammatory activities that translates into harmful metabolic changes and plaque buildup and ultimately heart disease.
   
   In other words, the bigger your belly is in relationship to your hips (this is known as the waist-to-hip ratio) is a better indicator of early signs of heart disease than other common measures of overweight and obesity, such as body mass index (BMI) and height/weight charts.
   
   Know your waist-to-hip ratio.
   
   Here's how it works:
   
   While standing, use a tape measure to measure your waist in inches at its smallest point OR at your navel (without holding in or pushing out your tummy).
   Next, measure your hips in inches at the widest area.
   Lastly, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.
   For example, if your waist measures 38 inches and your hips measure 38 inches then you're 1.0.
   
   Ideal waist-to-hip ratio:
   
   For men, .9 or less is considered safe.
   For women, .8 or less is considered safe.
   For both men and women, 1.0 or higher is considered “at risk” for heart disease
   The good news is that even small improvements prove to be beneficial. Lose an inch or two off your waist and you're already better off.
   
   


5. Eat a healthy heart diet
   
   * Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
   * Limit saturated fat intake
   * Limit salt intake
   * Limit alcohol to one drink/day for women and 2 drinks/day for men.
   * Eat fish rich in omega-3 fats 3 times a week (wild salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, trout and shellfish).

If you follow these steps then you'll go a long way to lowering your blood pressure and lowering your risk of having a heart attack.

Labels: blood-pressure-treatment, heart-attack, heart-attack-risk, omega-3-blood-pressure

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, diet-and-blood-pressure, high blood pressure

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, heart-attack, high blood pressure

Treat High Blood Pressure

By the nature of a large site like this I tend to find that the older articles get a bit lost over time.
So - if you're interested -here are a few of the highlights from previous months and years of writing about high blood pressure treatment.

Firstly, and this article about your blood pressure reading was one of the first I published on the subject, you might like to read about what those blood pressure numbers actually mean. Discover the difference between the upper and the lower numbers and learn why they're written the way they are.

Next, take a look at this piece about weight loss and blood pressure. Discover why weight loss can help with blood pressure treatment.

If you have very high blood pressure then you'll be interested in this article and lastly for now, check out this section about combined medication to treat high blood pressure

I'll write these review highlight sections from time to time so check back again or sign up for my regular newsletter.

Stay well.

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, diet-and-blood-pressure, high blood pressure, treatment

Alcohol and Blood Pressure

Is alcohol good or bad for your blood pressure?

People with high blood pressure need not be teetotal and may benefit from a regular tipple, a US study suggests. The research showed that men with high blood pressure reduced their risk of a heart attack by having a drink or two a day.

But experts warned too much alcohol can raise blood pressure and said the findings should not be used as a licence to drink. It's a no brainer really but you need to remember that alcohol can harm and should not be used as a medicine.

On or two glasses of beer or two small glasses of wine or a small glass of spirits reduced the risk of a heart attack, even if they had high blood pressure.

Light drinkers, who consumed less than one drink every two or three days, did not have a lower risk of heart attack than non-drinkers, however.

The study authors stressed that more than three drinks a day raises blood pressure and the risk of hypertension, adding, "so our findings are not a license for men with hypertension to overindulge".

However, lead author Joline Beulens, at the Harvard School of Public Health, added: "Because excess alcohol intake clearly increases blood pressure, many men with hypertension are counselled not to drink, but our results suggest that may not be necessary if men drink safely and responsibly."

Past research has shown that one way alcohol consumption decreases the risk of heart disease is by increasing the levels of "good" cholesterol and possibly thinning the blood.
Judy O'Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation said: "With alcohol consumption there is a fine line between benefit and risk.

"This study concluded that drinking alcohol in moderation is safe for men with high blood pressure. However, alcohol should not be used as a medicine and those who are teetotal do not need to start consuming alcohol to benefit their heart health.

"It should be remembered that drinking to excess carries serious health risks.
"If you want to improve your heart health our advice is to avoid smoking, eat a balanced diet low in salt and saturated fat and take regular physical activity," she advised.

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, diet-and-blood-pressure, salt and blood pressure

A vaccine against high blood pressure

Can a simple vaccine jab protect you from stroke and heart disease?

Researchers think they have developed a vaccine to control high blood pressure. The vaccine is derived from a protein found in limpets and the hope is that it would need a course of just three jabs, with a booster every six months.

The commonest way of treating blood pressure at the moment is with pills, but they can cause side-effects and some patients simply stop taking them.

Now Protherics - a British drug company - says its vaccine will make it much easier for people to control their blood pressure.

The jab, which has been successfully tested on people, uses the limpet protein to attack a hormone called angiotensin, which is produced by the liver. This is similar to the way that medicines like lisinopril, ramipril and perindopril work.

People who have tried the new vaccine have suffered few side-effects, although one in ten did complain of a brief, flu-like illness. Ideally, patients would be given an initial course of three injections, with a week or fortnight between each jab. A booster shot every six months, or even once a year, would keep blood pressure low.

It is not known how much the vaccines will cost but they are not expected to be much more expensive than current blood pressure tablets, some of which cost just a few pence a day.

In time, the vaccine may be given to ward off problems in young men and women with a family history of heart disease.

Some blood pressure tablets already available work by targeting angiotensin, either by cutting production of the hormone or by stopping it from working properly. But many people stop taking the daily tablets simply because there are no obvious signs that they are boosting their health.

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, high blood pressure, treatment, vaccine-for-blood-pressure

Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Blood Pressure

Alter your diet and lower your blood pressure

A diet rich in nutrients called omega-3 fatty acids can help lower a person's blood pressure. Foods rich in Omega 3 include fish and nuts.

A new large study looked at diet and its relation to blood pressure in 4,680 men and women, ages 40 to 59, who lived in Japan, China, Britain and the United States.

They all provided in-depth details about their diets and alcohol consumption, gave urine samples and had their blood pressure measured twice at each of four study visits.

The people who ate diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids had slightly lower blood pressure, on average, than people who ate diets with less of the nutrient, the researchers reported in the American Heart Association Journal Circulation.

"With blood pressure, every millimeter counts. The effect of each nutrient is apparently small but independent, so together they can add up to a substantial impact on blood pressure," said Dr. Hirotsugu Ueshima of Shiga University of Medical Science in Otsu, Japan.

"If you can reduce blood pressure a few millimeters from eating less salt, losing a few pounds, avoiding heavy drinking, eating more vegetables, whole grains and fruits (for their fiber, minerals, vegetable protein and other nutrients) and getting more omega-3 fatty acids, then you've made a big difference," Ueshima said in a statement.

When it comes to omega-3 fatty acids, not all fish or nuts are equal. Fatty fish such as trout, salmon and mackerel are rich in this crucial group of nutrients.

Walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids and people who got their omega-3s from these sources had just as much benefit as those who get them by eating fish, the study found.

Omega-3 fatty acid intake has also been linked to better brain development and a lower overall risk of cancer and heart disease.

Labels: blood-pressure-treatment, diet-and-blood-pressure, high blood pressure, omega-3-blood-pressure, salt and blood pressure

Seven Weird Ways to Die Young

What advice would you give to a non married, pessimistic pop star who has recently lost weight and lowered their cholesterol level by taking vitamin supplements?

Easy - stay in bed until after lunch of course !

We all know lots of tips about staying healthy and get advice from every TV chat show and billboard. But check out these weird facts if you want to (or want not to ) die young!

Here's how to make sure you die at an early age - hint ... the more of these tips you follow the better (or worse, depends how you look at it)

1. Remain pessimistic at all times
   A 70-year long study of personality traits shows that pessimism is a risk factor for early death, especially among men. Pessimism can also be linked to increased risk for sudden
   death from accidents or violence. Compared with individuals with a more cheerful and optimistic outlook, pessimists were more likely to die from accidents and violence (including suicide). A pessimistic way of seeing the world in which people catastrophize about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later.
   So cheer up - you'll be dead soon!
   
   
2. Eat too many vitamins
   Scientists at Copenhagen University found that people taking supplements which contained vitamins A and E and beta carotene were found to have a five per cent greater risk of dying than those who were not taking them. The research analysed the results of several studies involving over 180,000 people into the benefits of vitamins A, E, and C, along with beta carotene and selenium. Another Big Mac anyone?
   
   
3. Become a famous popstar
   Rock and pop stars are more than twice as likely as the rest of the population to die an early death. The findings are based on more than 1,050 North American and European musicians and singers who shot to fame between 1956 and 1999. All the musicians studied were featured in the All Time Top 1,000 albums, selected in 2000. The albums chosen covered rock, punk, rap, R&B, electronica and new age genres. How long the pop stars survived once they had achieved chart success and become famous was compared with the expected longevity of the general population.
   In all, 100 stars died early between 1956 and 2005. The average age of death was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars. When compared with the rest of the population in the U.K. and the U.S., rock and pop stars were about twice as likely to die early and even more likely to do so within five years of becoming famous.
   
   
4. Lose weight too quickly
   Overweight people who are otherwise healthy may increase their risk of dying by intentionally losing weight, according to provocative research involving twins in Finland.
   The research found that those who were overweight who lost weight on purpose were about 86 percent more likely to die for any reason over the next 18 years compared with those whose weight remained stable. Chocolate cake - yes please !
   
   
5. Watch your diet too closely
   Although a high cholesterol level is bad for you - bizarrely enough, a low cholesterol is worse.
   A huge study in Austria showed that high cholesterol was predictive of death from coronary heart disease but low cholesterol results in increased all-cause mortality. Low cholesterol showed significant associations with death from cancer, liver diseases, and mental diseases.
   
   
6. Stay single
   People who don't get married are much more likely to die young. A large research study showed some amazing findings. The researchers found that never-married people, compared with their married peers, are five times more likely to die of infectious disease, twice as likely to die in accidents, homicides, or suicides and nearly forty percent more likely to die of heart disease
   
   
7. Get up too early in the morning
   It's official (hurray) - rising before 5 a.m. is very bad for your health.
   A study conducted in Japan has found that early risers have a higher risk of medical conditions that can lead to heart attack and stroke. People who habitually rose before 5 a.m. had 1.7 times greater risk of high blood pressure and were twice as likely to develop hardening of the arteries as those who got up 2 to 3 hours later, researchers found.
   
   

So - what should you do with this information if you want a long life?
It's a no brainer really - stay in bed all day with your partner, eating junk food and slobbing out while avoiding vitamins or healthy stuff at all costs. Stay cheerful and don't be seduced by a large deal from the recording industry. Stick to all that and you'll live forever .... how cool a life would that be?

Labels: blood-pressure-treatment, high blood pressure, low-blood-pressure, salt and blood pressure

Heart Start Machine

Could you save a life if you had to? Could you? Right now? Right this minute now?

Research has shown that if someone has a cardiac arrest then the clock starts ticking from the very first second and every minute is vital if they are to have a chance of survival.

Only one person in every twenty lives to tell the tale if they have a cardiac arrest outside of hospital - and yet statistics show that the commonest place to have a cardiac arrest is at home or at work.

New autotmatic electronic defibrillator devices (AED's) or Heart Start machines as they are sometimes called are easy to use and really quite inexpensive.

I've written a comprehensive article about saving a life with an automatic defibrillator heart start machine on the website Squidoo.

Read more about this by clicking on the link below:

Heart Start Machine

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-monitor, blood-pressure-treatment

Zocor and High Blood Pressure

Can Zocor Increase Blood Pressure

Zocor is a drug used to treat high cholesterol levels.It's other name is Simvastatin.Simvastatin is one of a widely used group of drugs called statins.


Most people who take zocor have no significant side effects but some experience pain in the joints and muscles.


Common side effects associated with zocor therapy or simvastatin treatment include:


· zocor related sore joints and muscles,
· mild transient gastrointestinal symptoms,
· altered liver blood tests,
· headache, insomnia, dizziness and zocor related fatigue.

By the nature of having high blood pressure, many people who need to take zocor will also have high blood pressure.


Zocor and high blood pressure often go hand in hand - this is probably due to a combination of genetic and metabolic reasons.


Zocor needs be used with caution in people who have liver problems because, like all statin drugs, zocor can cause changes in liver blood tests.


Other severe side effects are rare in those who take Zocor but muscle pain or muscle inflammation sometimes occurs and can be a major problem. This goes away when the treatment is stopped but you should seek a doctors advice if you develop muscle pains when taking zocor.


There is no published research that connects Zocor and High Blood Pressure in a causative way - it's merely the case that the zocor is often given to high blood pressure patients because they also have high cholesterol.


So - can zocor increase blood pressure?

There is no published evidence to suggest that this is the case

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, zocor-and-high-blood-pressure

Zantac and Blood Pressure

Does Zantac affect blood pressure

I've received a few emails recently asking if there is any connection between zantac and blood pressure?

Zantac or Ranitidine as it is also known is a drug for the treatment of excess stomach acid, heartburn and ulcers.
To my knowledge there is no proven connection between Zantac and Blood Pressure.

Zantac does not interact with any of the commonly used blood pressure treatment medications and thus should not affect you if you are taking tablets to control blood pressure.

Most people who take zantac have no side effects at all but a few known side effects of zantac are:

• diarrhoea
• altered liver blood tests
• headaches
• dizziness
• rash
• fatigue
  

Rare side effects of zantac are:

• pancreas problems
• slow heart rate
• depression
• confusion
• skin eruptions with blisters
• swelling of the breast tissue in men
• impotence in men
  
  

So - as far as zantac and blood pressure goes there is no known connection

If you are concerned about taking zantac medication then consult with your doctor to discuss things.

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, zantac-and-blood-pressure

Blood Pressure Medicine - Norvasc Side Effects

Most people who take Norvasc for blood pressure treatment experience no side effects at all.

Norvasc is the world's most commonly prescribed blood pressure treatment.

It works by altering the way that blood vessel wall cells handle calcium and causes the blood vessels to relax. More relaxed blood vessels leads to lower blood pressure.

Norvasc is usually taken as either a 5mg tablet or a 10mg tablet. Side effects are more common with the 10mg tablet. If you think that Norvasc treatment is giving you side effects then you should consult with your doctor for advice.

Here are the commonest Norvasc Side Effects:
The rates are compared to those in research studies who took placebo drugs or "dummy tablets" with no norvasc in them

• Norvasc Swollen ankles - swollen ankles are five times more likely on those taking 5mg of Norvasc and nearly twenty times more likely on those taking Norvasc 10mg per day.
• Norvasc Dizziness - feeling dizzy is twice as likely if you are taking Norvasc 5mg but the incidence of dizziness does not increase if you are taking the 10mg tablets
• Norvasc Palpitations - palpititations are three times more likely if you are taking 5mg of Norvasc and nine times more likely if you are taking Norvasc 10mg
• Norvasc Flushing - flushed feelings or sweating is twice as common if you are taking Norvasc 5mg and three times more common if you are taking Norvasc 10mg.
• Norvasc Fatigue - fatigue is a very common reaction in those taking Norvasc and most studies suggest that it can affect up to one in ten of those who take the drug - even at the 5mg tablet dose

If you think you are experiencing these Norvasc Side Effects then please consult with your doctor

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, norvasc, treatment

Blood Pressure Medicines - Norvasc

Norvasc or Amlodipine (as it is also called) is a medication for the treatment of high blood pressure. It is one of the commonest Blood Pressure Medicines worldwide

Blood pressure medicines come in many different varieties. Norvasc works by altering the way that calcium is handled by the cells in blood vessel walls.
Norvasc is also sometimes used in the treatment of angina.
Norvasc works to relax the blood vessel walls by changing their sensitivity to calcium in the blood stream - more relaxed blood vessels leads to lower blood pressure.

Recently Norvasc has been combined with Lipitor in one tablet called Caduet. Caduet is designed to treat blood pressure and high cholesterol at the same time.

Norvasc is generally an easy medication to take but there are a few commonly recogised side effects. About 90 percent of those who take Norvasc get no side effects whatsoever.

Read more about Norvasc Side Effects

Labels: blood-pressure-medicines, blood-pressure-treatment, norvasc

Low Blood Pressure? Have you got too low a blood pressure for your health?

I get many emails on the subject of low blood pressure. There seem to be many sites out there on the web that deal well with topics related to high blood pressure or hypertension but it's much harder to get good quality information about the signs and symptoms of low blood pressure. It can even be difficult to pind down facts on the symptoms of high blood pressure !

Low blood pressure is a common problem and the symptoms can vary from being mild and inconvenient to severe and disabling.

So - what is a low blood pressure?

Well, if 1000 people had their BP measured we might expect to find a spread of readings ranging from as high as 200 / 120 down to as low as 80 / 50 with most people clustering around the middle of the range at around 130 / 85. The vast majority of these people would have no symptoms of any kind – no matter what their BP reading actually was.

If you have always have low BP readings of around 90 / 50 (or even lower perhaps) for the whole of your life then without doubt you have low blood pressure but there is nothing wrong with you or with your low BP reading. You should be pleased that your risk of stroke or other disease will be much less than many others in the population and it is very unlikely indeed that you will experience any symptoms. Your level is normal for you and needs no investigation or treatment. I call this "normal low blood pressure" - in other words that level of blood pressure is simply normal for you and nothing to be worried about.

If your BP is usually around 130 / 80 and suddenly or gradually drops to a level around 90 / 50 then it is very likely that you will become aware of hypotension symptoms related to this change. As in the above example you have low blood pressure but in this instance it is not normal for you to have readings this low. You may need to see your doctor for tests because it is quite likely that some other disease or perhaps a medication has caused your BP to drop.
You should seek medical advice for this.

You can read a lot more about low blood pressure symptoms and possibilities for low blood pressure treatment by following these links

Labels: blood-pressure-treatment, low-blood-pressure

I often wonder about the validity of some of the claims for alternative blood pressure treatments. I've experimented myself with salt restriction and even with adding flax seed oil to my diet - with good initial results - but, like all else in life, it can be hard to stick at it.

I read in a press cutting yesterday about the claims for cider vinegar and blood pressure reduction. The evidence does seem reasonably good so - here we go - I plan to give it a try.

I'll use my blood pressure monitor to keep tabs on things and feed back on how things develop.
Watch this space.

Labels: blood-pressure-monitor, blood-pressure-treatment, cider-vinegar, treatment