It's important to remember that high blood pressure is not usually a death sentence. As long as you're regularly working with your doctor on treatment and managing your blood pressure levels, you will likely live a long life. This includes making significant changes to your health and lifestyle for the better.
Men with normal pressure could expect to live 5.1 years longer than those with hypertension, the study found; women could plan on another 4.9 years of life. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world and high blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for this disease.
Now, however, a study that researchers at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany carried out suggests that some older people may not face other health problems if they have high blood pressure. In fact, the researchers note, some people in their 80s may even see some benefits.
Hypertension should not keep you from living a normal life.
You will also need to watch what you eat and drink, and how much salt you eat. You will also have to be more active. A healthy lifestyle along with the medicine can keep your blood pressure in control for the rest of your life.
Your body's network of blood vessels, known as the vascular system, changes with age. Arteries get stiffer, causing blood pressure to go up. This can be true even for people who have heart-healthy habits and feel just fine.
Causes of High Blood Pressure
Lack of physical activity. High-sodium diet. Heavy alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
High blood pressure can damage your health in many ways. It can seriously hurt important organs like your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes. The good news is that, in most cases, you can manage your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems.
If your blood pressure gets too high or stays high for a long time, it can cause health problems. Uncontrolled high blood pressure puts you at a higher risk for stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and kidney failure.
Why is it important to know if you have high blood pressure? Early detection of high blood pressure is very important. Often referred to as the “silent killer” because it may show no symptoms, high blood pressure puts you at an increased risk for heart disease, heart failure, and stroke, among other things.
It's important to remember that high blood pressure is not usually a death sentence. As long as you're regularly working with your doctor on treatment and managing your blood pressure levels, you will likely live a long life. This includes making significant changes to your health and lifestyle for the better.
Compared with people who didn't take their blood pressure drugs regularly (less than 25% of the time), those who took their pills more than 75% of the time were less likely to die during the study.
It's All About Lifestyle Change
It probably just means its working! W – Manage a healthy weight: Make changes to your diet and activity level – even a small amount will help! D – Eat a healthy diet: Start by adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet. S – Stop smoking and manage stress.
In general, you shouldn't stop taking blood pressure medications suddenly. If you do, they can cause potentially dangerous side effects that can lead to withdrawal symptoms. Blood pressure medications are often stopped more gradually, utilizing a strategy such as tapering.
Nearly half of adults in the United States (47%, or 116 million) have hypertension, defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 130 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 80 mmHg or are taking medication for hypertension.
While only 25% of men ages 35 to 44 have high blood pressure, 64% of men from age 65 to 74, do. Women suffer from the condition at similar rates, but surpass men after age 75.
The prevalence of hypertension increased with age, from 7.5% among adults aged 18–39 to 33.2% among those aged 40–59, and 63.1% among those aged 60 and over.
Causes and Risk Factors
Aging also plays a role. Even if you do not have hypertension by age 55 to 65, your lifetime risk for developing it is a whopping 90 percent.
Take it first in the morning before eating or taking any medications. Take it again in the evening. Each time you measure, take two or three readings to make sure your results are the same. Your health care provider might recommend taking your blood pressure at the same times each day.
For most adults, there's no identifiable cause of high blood pressure. This type of high blood pressure is called primary hypertension or essential hypertension. It tends to develop gradually over many years. Plaque buildup in the arteries, called atherosclerosis, increases the risk of high blood pressure.
Anxiety and high blood pressure can sometimes go hand in hand. Anxiety may lead to high blood pressure, and high blood pressure may trigger feelings of anxiety. Doctors characterize anxiety as feelings of intense worry or fear. It causes many physical symptoms, including increased heart rate and shallow breathing.
There is a long list of medications for high blood pressure, and guidelines recommend both ACE inhibitors and ARBs as first-line options. Both classes have been proven effective in lowering blood pressure and curbing the risks of heart disease and stroke.
A study in the journal Hypertension reported that people following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet lowered their blood pressure by 1–4 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) in 1 week. The same study noted that reducing sodium intake gradually decreased blood pressure over 4 weeks.
Anxiety doesn't cause long-term high blood pressure (hypertension). But episodes of anxiety can cause dramatic, temporary spikes in blood pressure.