High blood pressure

I was reading an article recently which said that around one in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure (hypertension) and in England, 31% of men and 26% of women suffer from this ailment. Unfortunately, high blood pressure does not usually have any symptoms, so the only way to find out if you have it is to get your blood pressure checked.

High blood pressure is when the force of blood pushing against your artery walls is consistently too high. This damages your arteries over time and can lead to serious complications like heart attack and stroke. Research shows that although you can live a long life with high blood pressure, it may be five to seven years shorter than those that don’t have it.

Hypertension does not only affect people with a sedentary lifestyle. Fit and active people can also have high blood pressure. There are a lot of factors that come into play when it comes to hypertension, for example, genetics, body composition and diet. There are almost always multiple factors at work. Some of these causes can't be prevented, like genetics and age.

So, what can we do to prevent or even reverse hypertension. Well, simple lifestyle changes can help reduce high blood pressure, although some people may need to take medicine as well. Below are a few examples of changes that you can make to your lifestyle to help prevent or manage hypertension.

• Cut your salt intake to less than 6g (0.2oz) a day, which is about a teaspoonful. Even a small reduction of sodium in the diet can improve heart health and reduce high blood pressure.

• Be active. Regular exercise can lower high blood pressure and also prevent elevated blood pressure from turning into high blood pressure (hypertension). For those who have hypertension, regular physical activity can bring blood pressure down to safer levels.

• Eat a balanced diet, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.

• Cut down on alcohol. Limiting your alcohol intake can help lower blood pressure. Conversely, drinking too much can raise it as well as affecting any blood pressure drugs you might be on.

• Quit smoking. Stopping smoking helps lower blood pressure. It can also reduce the risk of heart disease and improve overall health.

• Get a good night's sleep. Poor sleep quality can contribute to hypertension.