On May 17, the world celebrated World Day against hypertension, which kills stealthily – many people do not even suspect that they suffer from this disease.
Is it good or bad? Without pronounced symptoms, a person does not seem to feel sick, but hypertension is the strongest modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the world.
Meet hypertension
Arterial hypertension is high blood pressure in the wall of large arteries in the body. Blood pressure is written in two digits and is measured in millimeters of mercury. The higher number is the “systolic” pressure, known as the “high” pressure, and the lower number is the “diastolic” pressure, known as the “low” pressure. Hypertension is diagnosed when systolic pressure is ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic pressure is ≥ 90 mmHg.
Hypertension is the main risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases – coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure. It is also a strong risk factor for chronic kidney disease, arrhythmias, dementia, and hypertensive retinopathy.
WHO data
According to the World Health Organization, 1.28 billion adults worldwide aged 30 to 79 suffer from hypertension. Most of them live in low- and middle-income countries.
In Greece, where cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death, more than 30% of the population suffer from hypertension (approximately 3,300,000 people), and in old age this diagnosis is one in two. It is worth considering that about 30% of hypertensive patients are not diagnosed, and less than 1/3 achieved good control with treatment.
Risk factors
Several risk factors lead to the occurrence of hypertension:
- unhealthy diet – excessive salt intake, lack of vegetables and fruits in the menu, a diet high in saturated fats and trans fats;
- insufficient physical activity;
- smoking;
- alcohol abuse;
- obesity.
Age over 65, genetic predisposition, diabetes and kidney disease are also of great importance.
Diagnosis and treatment
The difficulty in identifying the problem early is that high blood pressure is usually asymptomatic. Patients are unaware that they have high blood pressure until it is accidentally discovered during a visit to the doctor for a completely different reason.
In the case of hypertension, public awareness about the prevention of this disease is very important. Blood pressure should be measured regularlyespecially in the presence of risk factors. You can do this not only at a doctor’s appointment, but also on your own, using a convenient and easy-to-use device, as well as in most pharmacies. Treatment of hypertension is selected strictly individually.especially in the presence of concomitant diseases – diabetes, coronary heart disease and others.
Prevention
Some preventive measures help delay the onset of age-related hypertension and also help lower blood pressure. Among them, writes CNN:
- healthy diet, rich in vegetables and fruits menu;
- reducing salt intake;
- control of body weight, maintenance of normal indicators;
- limiting alcohol consumption;
- physical activity;
- to give up smoking;
- reduction of stressful situations, mental health control;
- timely treatment of chronic diseases, especially such as diabetes and kidney failure;
- regular measurement of blood pressure;
- control by the attending physician, the implementation of his recommendations for taking the necessary drugs.
help yourself
To maintain a normal state of health, you can use certain massage techniques to relieve headaches and relieve fatigue in everyday life. According to experts, this way you can reduce the pressure in 5 minutes. Acupuncture points for hypertension are used in several areas:
- With your thumb, you need to press on a point with localization on the left under the jaw. The pulse of the carotid artery should be felt there. Hold for 10 seconds. Then you need to release the point, take a deep breath and press again. Repeat three times, then do the same manipulations with a symmetrical point on the other side of the jaw.
- The occipital bone is pressed three times, gradually increasing the force of impact.
- With three fingers, press on the back of the neck, towards the bottom. Movements must be performed in sync. Repeat the procedure three times.
- With three fingers, press on the epigastric zone. Hold for 10 seconds, pressing is repeated 10 times.
- With an effort to squeeze and stretch the middle finger. The exercise is performed alternately on each hand.
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