If you have been told that your blood pressure is too high (that is, that you have hypertension), then what you were actually being told was that your lifestyle is not particularly healthy. This is because, unless your hypertension has come about because of ethnicity, age, sleeplessness or medication, you are doing something wrong in your daily life.
Blood pressure control for most people means initiating lifestyle alterations for the better or taking tablets for life. If you have hypertension but you cannot go to see your medical doctor as often as you would like, you could always buy a home blood pressure monitor and keep an eye on your blood pressure yourself.
The best sort to buy is an automatic digital monitor with a self-inflating cuff. It should also have a pulse monitor and several memories, although you can always use good old-fashioned pen and paper. They are not expensive any more and should cost between $30 and $100.
Some have a lifetime warranty and are as accurate as your GP's sphygmomanometer, which is the gold standard of blood pressure monitors. You should take your readings at the same time every day (or two or three times a day at the same times) and make a record of it or them. In this fashion you can compare your progress (or lack of it).
The first thing to do is quit smoking (if you smoke, obviously) and then cut down on heavy drinking sessions, if you do that). Doing that will improve your general health whether you have high arterial pressures or not.
The next thing to do is to reduce your weight, if you are overweight by dieting and exercise. If you are not overweight, you will still have to increase your degree of exercise and change your diet for the following reasons. Exercise decreases your arterial pressures and an excessive amount of salt (also called sodium) will raise your blood pressure.
So, whichever way you look at it, you will need to exercise more and take on a low-sodium diet. One of the ways of reducing sodium in your diet is by eating fresh fruit and vegetables and give up eating canned and other fast foods, which are stuffed with salt.
These lifestyle changes are not easy, so if you have to take some of them on board, consider getting help. For instance, you could use patches to help you quit smoking. You could visit the pub less frequently or simply go there later in the evening. You could ask your spouse to go on the diet as well or you could join a support group on or off line.
There really are plenty of resources out there to help you circumvent hypertension, but if you really cannot be bothered, then pop along to your physician's and get your first batch or high blood pressure tablets and be certain to make a repeat appointment, because you will be going back and forth for the remainder of your life.
