How To Treat High Or Low Blood Pressure

Causes of High Diastolic Blood Pressure Readings and What to Do About Them

You’re probably familiar with the blood pressure cuff your doctor uses but do you really understand what he is measuring?

Blood pressure is the force that the heart places on the walls of your blood vessels when it pumps and relaxes. When the heart pumps the pressure goes up and this is called systolic pressure. When the heart relaxes, the pressure goes down and this is know as diastolic pressure.

Normal blood pressure is considered to be 120 systolic and 80 diastolic. If your diastolic is between 80 and 100 you are pre-hypertensive. If it is over 100 you have hypertension and will probably be placed on drugs.

If you have a high diastolic reading you probably have a high systolic reading as well. It really doesn’t matter though because high diastolic pressure carries the same life threatening conditions as systolic.

High diastolic blood pressure is more common in young adults, teens and even children.

It’s been suggested that birth weight may have a direct connection to this condition.

The three principal cause of high diastolic pressure are:

Obesity: Overweight people with a high Body Mass Index place additional pressure on the arterial system creating higher blood pressure. Excess fat and cholesterol can stiffen the arteries and clog them with plaque causing the heart to have to pump harder.
Diet: One of the biggest contributors to HBP and the principal cause of obesity, is an unhealthy diet rich in salt, saturated fats and trans-fatty acids. A diet with these characteristics can damage blood vessels at the cell level. This diet encourages oxidation which weakens cells, hardens arteries, and creates plaque.
Smoking: Putting nicotine in your body is not a good idea. Nicotine constricts the blood vessels increasing blood pressure and also causes the heart to beat faster.

So if you are an overweight smoker who thinks Burger King is gourmet food, you are probably in real danger.

The obvious solution is to set aside time to exercise. Thirty minutes of walking or cycling will have an immediate impact on your blood pressure.

Eat a diet rich in antioxidants and vasodilators. Antioxidants fight free radicals which cause oxidation. Vasodilators allow the blood vessels to dilate and handle the pressure more efficiently. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great sources for both these characteristics.

Just say no to tobacco.

The more our society tries to make life convenient the further we get from the natural fuels that our body requires. Unfortunately, convenience and automation have a cost. That cost is nearly 70 million Americans with high blood pressure. Now is the time to take responsibility for your health and make the changes you need to ensure a longer healthier life.

Your heart will thank you.

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When Considering Herbal Treatment For Blood Pressure

Article by Javier Fuller

Recently, the field of alternative treatment has caught the attention of all- the researchers, medical practitioners and the patients. Name any disease and it will be followed by the name of an effective alternative treatment.

The same is true for the treatment of blood pressure. One of the most effective alternative treatments for lowering blood pressure is the use of herbs. Since ages, researches have been focusing on the field of herbal medicine and are trying to find out answers to the fact that how some of these herbs are miraculously effective in lowering down blood pressure.

Nevertheless, whatever the reasons be; this is a known fact that herbs since long have been used to cure various diseases and disorders and blood pressure is one of them. The best part is that more and more people are moving towards the natural methods of treatment as the contemporary allopathic medicines carry certain side effects with them.

The true essence of herbal treatment lies in the combination of various other alternative treatments like Acupuncture, Ayurveda, and Homeopathy along with the administration of proper diet plans. All these treatments clubbed together can give you instantaneous, long-term results for lowering down your blood pressure.

The herbs used in lowering blood pressure work in a very simple way in your body. In simple terms they induce a phenomenon that is known as diuretic effect. Diuretic effect occurs in the cells and the tissues of your body. These herbs increase the blood flow in your kidney. As the blood flow increases, the outflow of urine from the kidney also increases. As urination increases, the blood pressure automatically lowers down.

Some of the effective herbs for lowering high blood pressure are hibiscus, fennel, borage, juniper, asparagus, yarrow and hawthorne. Besides them, herbs like mistletoe and rauwolfia also work in the direction of reducing blood pressure by dilating your blood vessels. The dilation decreases the excessive water levels in the body. Thus, as the water level goes down, the blood pressure automatically reduces.

And like any other treatment, here comes a caution. A very important thing to keep in mind while administering herbal medicines is that you should always take them in a correct dosage and under the guidance of a herbal medicine practitioner. Besides, no compromise should be followed in the quality of drugs that you intend to take, as the preserved herbs can have certain unpleasant side effects on your body.

Visit http://www.blood-pressure-updates.com/bp/magazine/edition/High-Blood-Pressure.htm to know about low blood pressure treatment and food for blood pressure patients

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