Blood Pressure And Your Health

Knowing our body is the best way to take care of our health. We know that there are characteristic signs and symptoms of an illness or condition such as fever, cough, or pain. However, many of the chronic conditions do not present any symptoms until more critical...

Stages of the disease. One of the best known conditions that encompasses several silent diseases in our body are cardiovascular conditions, including hypertension or high blood pressure.

According to the latest guidelines from the American Heart Association, blood pressure is elevated when it exceeds the levels of 130 systolic and 90 diastolic, and it is important to consider the long-term risks that may be associated with this elevation.

However, blood pressure could be just a sign associated with other diseases or be the language that our body presents asking for more attention or a change in our lifestyles. Being just a message of caution that if we attend it in time it could help us avoid major complications.

By presenting high blood pressure, we are not only relating problems related to the heart or the blood vessels of the body. The heartbeat and strength is the result of various neurological and hormonal stimuli, as well as emotional states and diseases that already exist in our body. For this reason, blood pressure has always been an important part of vital signs that reveal how our body responds during any altered state in our body.

But what could these high blood pressure levels be revealing about our health, and who should I start to watch when these values rise? Although it is true that blood pressure can vary from day to day, the body can retroactively decrease it until its levels are normalized. If it does not happen, it reflects that there is an indicator that alters the balance of our body and could be a red flag to attend urgently. These important indicators could include:

High blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Both molecules in our body are indicators that our body is in an altered state between what we consume and the energy we expend on a daily basis. Cholesterol that is vital in the production of hormones and other important substances when in high levels can cause the arteries to become occluded by the formation of plaques on the walls. This is known as Atherosclerosis, and it brings complications such as heart attacks. Likewise, high levels of glucose or sugar in the blood can occlude smaller blood vessels in the extremities of the body, causing decreased circulation and exerting more force on the heart. So elevated blood pressure levels could present the first silent sign to watch for cholesterol and blood sugar levels that are predecessors of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. For this reason, with high pressures, lifestyles must be modified that include a higher quality and quantity of physical activity and adequate nutrition with more fresh fruits and vegetables and avoiding refined sugars.

Prolonged anxiety and stress levels. If it is true that a state of acute stress can cause a momentary increase in blood pressure to rescue us from a moment of emergency, emotional states where constant anxiety can cause hormonal and neurological imbalances that lead to related heart conditions like hypertension and heart problems. Therefore, deciphering what causes stress is a fundamental part of the integral health of the human being. Medication exercises, breathing, and increased moderate physical activity help to gradually improve elevated blood pressure levels.

Obesity is an extremely important factor in avoiding high levels of blood pressure, as well as many other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Maintaining the weight avoids the stress of the heart on the arteries and therefore the increase in blood pressure. Maintaining an adequate diet based on weight and height and an active lifestyle is essential to stay healthy.

Acute conditions and dehydration. Blood pressure can be altered in acute illnesses, either caused by viruses or bacteria that alter the body’s circulation in response to infection. Also, dehydration can cause increased pressure levels and be an acute sign of a body response to keep the body in a safer state. Watch for other signs such as fever, dizziness, weakness, and may also be associated with infectious conditions that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

Increased use of alcohol and salt. There is a certainty that alcohol in moderate doses can lower blood pressure and be beneficial in the first 12 hours, but its prolonged use affects the metabolic and neurological states that control the blood pressure centers in response, in addition to increasing sugar levels in the blood that brings as a consequence an increased risk of conditions such as Diabetes, as well as strokes and other associated conditions. The excess salt sends a message to the brain to release hormones that retain fluids in the body and therefore increase in volume and effort on the part of the heart. Decreasing salt is highly recommended in patients already with high blood pressure.

Therefore, the next time your blood pressure is elevated, watch what lifestyles must be modified to restore health naturally and avoid all the consequences of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

And if you want to improve your health naturally and with healthy lifestyles individually and comprehensively, contact FitMEd. A comprehensive nutritional counseling program under clinical supervision.

Adamar Gonzalez MD

Dr. in General Medicine

Creator of the Transformation Program

in Health and Nutrition from FitMeD

fitmedforme@gmail.com

321.310.6648