High Blood Pressure, otherwise known as hypertension, is caused when your blood pressure is high enough to cause stressing along the walls of the arteries. This can lead to severe health problems, including heart attacks and even death.

With thousands of people being diagnosed every day, high blood pressure – or hypertension – is known as a “silent killer”. Symptoms are rare unless you have an extremely high blood pressure, and can lead to the damage of your heart, kidneys, and arteries. But what is high blood pressure? Well first off, when you suffer from high blood pressure, the overall force of blood against the walls of your arteries is too strong so that it is straining the artery walls. This strain on the artery walls can lead to severe damage to your body, as well as atherosclerosis and stroke, and even death.

Many people who suffer from high blood pressure are not even aware they have the condition. There are as many as 60 million Americans suffer from high blood pressure, which is about 1 in 4 adults 18 years or older. Elevated blood pressure has been indirectly responsible for hundreds of thousands of death and disability that have been related to heart failure, kidney failure, and strokes. Research has shown that the risk of dying from a cardiac attack is directly related to your blood pressure – the higher your blood pressure is, the greater your risk is (even if your blood pressure is in the ‘normal’ range).

There are several causes of high blood pressure, including pre-existing medical conditions, old age, smoking, obesity, and alcohol addiction. There are several causes that are uncontrollable when it comes to high blood pressure – age, race, family history, gender, and even socioeconomic factors.

• Age: As you get older, your arteries begin to get stiffer, arteriosclerosis – hardening of the arteries, and your capillaries begin to die off (rarfication ).

• Race: Studies have shown that African Americans have an increased risk of high blood pressure, as well as developing high blood pressure at a younger age and developing more severe complications.

• Family History: High blood pressure has been shown to be hereditary. If high blood pressure runs in your family, you have an increased risk of developing it.

• Gender: Studies have shown that men are at greater risk of developing high blood pressure than women, but other factors come into play including age and race.

• Socioeconomic Factors: High blood pressure has been found to be more common through lower socioeconomic groups. People who live in the southeastern United States have been found to have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure over other regions throughout America.

While there are factors that can’t be changed, there are several lifestyle changes that can lessen your risk of high blood pressure.

• Obesity: America is plagued by an obesity epidemic, and obesity has been shown to be a contributing factor in high blood pressure. Doctors recommend if you suffer from obesity to drop your weight down to within 15% of average body weight.

• Sodium: People who are more sensitive to sodium / salt will have an elevated blood pressure level when they consume salt. A sodium reduce diet will help lower blood pressure. Some areas of increased sodium include fast food / processed foods and over the counter pain medicines.

• Birth Control: Contraceptive pills have been known to increase a patient’s blood pressure.

• Alcohol / Drugs: Drugs such as amphetamines, diets pills, and cold / allergy pills could raise blood pressure, as well as drinking one or more alcoholic drinks per day.

• Poor Exercise: Lack of exercise leads to the development of obesity and high blood pressure.

Symptoms of high blood pressure are often disregarded to be common ailments. These symptoms include dizziness, headaches, blurred vision, and nausea. Failure to seek treatment for these symptoms could lead to organ damage, as well as heart attack / failure, stoke, kidney failure, loss of vision, arterial disease, and aneurysms. Regular checkups with your doctor can help find pre-cursers that can lead to high blood pressure, so be sure to keep on your visits.

There are several treatments for high blood pressure. The most obvious are lifestyle changes. Start exercising, eat healthier with less sodium intake, stop smoking / drinking, and cut down on stress causes in life. There are also several medications that are prescribed to help battle high blood pressure:

• Diuretics: Widely used to control mild blood pressure, diuretics increase sodium excretion and urine output, as well as decrease blood volume.

• Beta-Blockers: Beta-blockers reduce the pressure generated by the heart by decreasing heart rate and the force of heart contractions. Beta-blockers are primarily prescribed to patients with coronary heart disease or suffered a heart attack.

• Angiontensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors: Halts the production of angiotensin II, a potent chemical that causes blood vessel contractions. Blocking the chemical allows the blood vessels to relax.

• Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB): Prevent the uptake of angiotensin II, inhibiting the vasoconstrictor effect.

• Calcium Channel Blockers: Relax the arterial muscle walls.

• Direct Vasodilators: Dilate the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow under a low pressure. Often given through IV lines.

• Alpha Blockers: Relax blood vessels by blocking the nervous system, thus halting muscular contraction.
In the end, the best way to prevent high blood pressure is to get on the defensive before it starts. Healthy exercise, healthy eating, no smoking, minimal drinking, and a stress-free lifestyle are ways to help prevent high blood pressure.

Regular checkups with your doctors are recommended to keep a steady eye on your blood pressure levels. If you already suffer from high blood pressure, a simple lifestyle change could be all that you need to help lower your levels. A new natural supplement is also available to help fight the actual causes behind high blood pressure and not just mask the effects. Click below to find out more information about ion eXtra today!

What Is High Blood Pressure