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PharmEasy Blog

5 Easy Steps To Keep Hypertension Away!

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High blood pressure can be fatal and hence it is important to know how to keep it under control. Hypertension is a blood pressure reading above 140/90 mmHg. Such a high reading puts one at risk for a number of serious health conditions, including stroke and heart disease. Knowing the essential Steps to Control high blood pressure would help at great levels. 

Maintaining hypertension requires a lot of healthy lifestyle changes which should be a part of your personal life goals. Continue to follow the points mentioned below and try to incorporate it into your daily habits.

Here are the Steps to Control High Blood Pressure –

• Cut down on Salt 

 The higher the sodium in the body the higher the blood pressure. Adopting a low-sodium diet can help keep the blood pressure normal. Limit to consuming a total of 1,500 milligrams of salt per day which means no processed foods.

• DASH Diet 

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Following a DASH diet means including a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, 4-5 servings of nuts, seeds, and legumes in the diet. Encourage a lot of protein in your diet and avoid fat, sugar. Also, include plenty of whole grains in the diet like brown bread, rice, pasta, etc 

Also Read: Signs to Stop Water Fasting: Boundary Between Health and Harm

• Exercise regularly 

One of the best ways to control hypertension is by maintaining body weight and the most effective way to do that is by staying active. Exercise will help in improving blood circulation, lung capacity, and heart efficiency.

• Medication

 If your doctor asked you to take your bp medicines at a particular time, take it exactly on time. Never skip your dosage. You can use the PharmEasy app to help set dosage reminders.

• Know your numbers

Make sure to check your blood pressure regularly by getting a check-up done at the clinic or at home. Most of the people target to keep their blood pressure at 140/90mmHg but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case for everyone. Consult with your doctor and find out the target bp you have to maintain and work towards it.

Apart from all these, try to keep your stress under control as well. There are a lot of Steps to Control High blood pressure and follow a calmer lifestyle. A morning ritual which starts with positive thoughts and chamomile tea can have a very calm impact throughout the day.

Also read: Treating Hypertension: 5 Effective Ways

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational/awareness purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional and should not be relied upon to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The reader should consult a registered medical practitioner to determine the appropriateness of the information and before consuming any medication. PharmEasy does not provide any guarantee or warranty (express or implied) regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information; and disclaims any liability arising thereof.

Links and product recommendations in the information provided here are advertisements of third-party products available on the website. PharmEasy does not make any representation on the accuracy or suitability of such products/services. Advertisements do not influence the editorial decisions or content. The information in this blog is subject to change without notice. The authors and administrators reserve the right to modify, add, or remove content without notification. It is your responsibility to review this disclaimer regularly for any changes.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Causes & Diagnosis

Common Symptoms

• Irregular heart palpitations or strong, throbbing sensation in the chest
• Passing out or frequent dizziness
• Progressive shortness of breath during any physical activity or exercise
• Difficulty breathing at rest
• Swelling in your  ankles  and legs

Causes of Symptoms

• Liver diseases or lung conditions: Blood clots in the lungs, pulmonary fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver could lead to the development of pulmonary hypertension.
• Heart diseases: Conditions such as aortic valve disease, left heart failure and congenital heart disease could be some of the probable causes for the conditions
• Genes: Most often the condition is inherited from parents but the percentage of such cases are very less.
• Illegal drug use: Continuous usage of drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine leads to long-term damage and can even be life-threatening.
• Arthritis: Sometimes, certain rheumatologic conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis might lead to the pulmonary artery becoming narrow.

Diagnosis & Treatment

1. Blood tests: Helps detect the presence of HIV, Arthritis or Lupus
2. CT Scan: Helps detect the enlarged pulmonary artery and find out the other probable causes for the condition
3. Echocardiogram: Helps get a better understanding of the status of the blood pressure
4. Electrocardiogram (ECG): Helps get a complete overview of the heart’s activity & strain
5. Exercise testing: Helps manage the changes in oxygen level, heart function and other things.

Know The 5 Ways To Treat Hypertension

If you have been diagnosed with  hypertension, or high blood pressure, it is important for you to establish a reasonable goal for treating hypertension, and then take the necessary steps to achieve that goal.

Keep in mind that, most often, achieving your blood pressure goal will only be accomplished after a series of steps – one step at a time. After each step, you and your doctor will determine whether the goal — reaching your “target” blood pressure without significant side effects — has been achieved.

Typical Treatment Steps for Essential Hypertension

Treating Hypertension often depends on the “stage” of your hypertension, which is determined by your  systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

• Stage 1 hypertension:  systolic 140 – 159 mmHg, OR diastolic 90 – 99 mmHg
• Stage 2 hypertension:  systolic greater than 159 mmHg, OR diastolic greater than 99 mmHg

Lifestyle Changes

If your hypertension is relatively mild (Stage 1 hypertension), your doctor may begin by advising lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes that may help to reduce your blood pressure include:

• Adopting a diet for hypertension
• Adopting salt restriction
• Adopting a regular exercise program
• Quitting smoking

If you are successful at adopting these lifestyle changes but your blood pressure still has not reached your goal (or if you are a more typical human, and your efforts at diet and exercise still fall somewhat short of what the experts recommend) your doctor will recommend drugs for treating hypertension  

Drug Therapy

Five major classes of medications are used to treat hypertension:

• Thiazide diruetics
• ACE inhibitors
• Calcium blockers
• Beta blockers
• Angiotensin receptor blockers, ARBs

Several specific drugs have been marketed for hypertension within each of these classes, and several prescription medications contain a combination of these drugs.Remember to consult your physician before self-medicating.

If you have Stage I hypertension, the odds are good that your blood pressure can be brought to target levels with a single drug. If you have Stage 2 hypertension, single drug therapy rarely is effective enough, and your doctor may want to begin right away with a combination of drugs.

If  single drug therapy  (or monotherapy) is chosen, it appears best to begin with either a thiazide diuretic, a long-acting calcium blocker, or an ACE inhibitor. Young patients often respond well to ACE inhibitors; black patients and elderly patients tend to do better with  thiazide  diuretics or  calcium channel blockers.  

If the first try at monotherapy is insufficiently effective or poorly tolerated, switching to another single drug, and then to a third if necessary, is generally recommended as the next step.

If three or more attempts at monotherapy have not worked well enough, the next step is to try combination therapy  with two or more drugs. While numerous combinations are possible, recent evidence suggests that using a calcium blocker together with an ACE inhibitor or ARB may be the most effective and best-tolerated combination. Most doctors will now try this combination first, even if the monotherapy was with a thiazide diuretic.
With these step-wise manoeuvres, the large majority of patients with hypertension will reach their target blood pressure levels with minimal side effects. Keep in mind that finding successful therapy for hypertension often requires several weeks or months, and several drug trials. But it is important for you to stick with the program. Getting your blood pressure to target levels, and keeping it there, will give you a very large payout for your efforts — a greatly reduced  risk of heart attack  and stroke.  PharmEasy lets you order prescribed medication and schedule diagnostic tests.