Hypertension, more commonly known as
high blood pressure is an illness that can be a lot more dangerous than people make it out to be. In fact, almost everyone starts to suffer from blood pressure related issues as they age. So, what's really important is that people keep their blood pressure levels in check regularly. But despite this, do we all end up with high blood pressure anyway?
As we mentioned earlier, high blood pressure can prove to be very dangerous for health because it can lead to other health complications like heart diseases, strokes, vision problems, kidney problems etc. "Preventing damage is possible by keeping blood pressure well-controlled," says Dr. Sandra Taler, a professor of medicine and consultant. "If you ignore it, that's when there's a much higher risk of complications."
By definition, high blood pressure refers to a reading of 130 or higher as the top number (systolic) or 80 or higher as the bottom number (diastolic). Now, in Western societies, the most common factor for an increase in blood pressure is the consumption of salt. "Blood pressure increases with age in Western societies—or really most every society now—is related to the intake of salt," said Taler. It was also found that some other factors included body mass index, race and ageing.
The researchers also looked at the differences in gender and found that regardless of race or ethnicity, high blood pressure was higher in men until they reached their 50s and then it became higher for women past that age. Dr. Hongwei Ji, the study's lead author and a clinical investigator spoke about this and said, "When it comes to investigating or treating blood pressure and cardiovascular health, women and men should be compared by different standards." She added, "More importantly, we should definitely pay more attention to controlling early-life blood pressure, especially for women."
The author also suggested that other factors like early menopause and oral contraceptives pertaining specifically to women must also be explored to figure out if they could be leading to high blood pressure issues. However, she also offered some necessary advice to everyone to help keep their blood pressure levels in check.
She said that one must keep a check on their weight constantly, it would be better to limit salty and processed foods, one must exercise regularly and must also stop smoking. The bottom line is that high blood pressure is treatable if only people make the effort to do so. Stay tuned for more updates.
