Did you know that high blood pressure (hypertension) affects 1 in 3 people worldwide and accounts for 20-25% of all deaths. That’s over 16 Million people in the UK, and 50 million people in the USA. In over 90% of cases there is no identifiable cause and, in over 50 % of cases, people are unaware that they have it.
Blood pressure is the force need to maintain the circulation of blood through your body. Ideal blood pressure is around 115/75. Hypertension (that is blood pressure over 120/80) is divided into two classes: primary or essential hypertension which has no known cause (over 90% of cases), and secondary hypertension which arises from a disease or medical condition eg sleep apnoea, sodium retention, excess cortisol, narrowing of the aorta, endocrine disorders and pre-eclampsia.
There are a number of lifestyle factors that can contribute to hypertension such as:
- obesity/diabetes
- lack of exercise
- excess salt
- excess alcohol
- smoking and
- some prescription and non-prescription drugs.
There are other factors related to stress which can impact on blood pressure such as:
- feeling loss of control
- feeling burdened
- unresolved anger
- inner conflict and
- fear of death/illness.
So, if you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension/high blood pressure what can you do? Well, if you’ve been given medication by your doctor, keep taking it. Then look at the lifestyle factors and think whether any of them apply to you and what you could change. If you relate to any of the stress factors you might need to get some help from a complementary practitioner.
If you think that you might have high blood pressure then go and see your doctor and get it checked out .
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