Fight Hypertension - Live Healthy, Live Happy!

By Dr. Archana Pate, MD (Medicine), Consultant Physician and Intensivist at Aastha Multi-Speciality Hospital (Mumbai), Member of Maharashtra Medical Council

Marking the World Hypertension Day, various organisations globally celebrate each year on May 17th to promote the public awareness on the importance of monitoring blood pressure with being aware of its natural levels. Many studies have evidently emphasised that hypertension is a "silent killer", with no apparent warning signs. Therefore, knowing that one's blood pressure is elevated allows that individual to take some action to mitigate the rising blood pressure, thus preventing fatal diseases.

The World Happiness Report 2019 throws light on the evolution of happiness from 2005 to 2018 with a rise in negative feelings such as worry, sadness, and anger across the globe. These findings point out the underlying challenges that need to be addressed by society that includes the increasing level of stress in modern life. Stress combined with a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet and use of alcohol and tobacco is causing an increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases are responsible for over 70% of all deaths globally as per WHO. And of all the risk factors for NCDs, the leading risk factor is hypertension or high blood pressure.

Hypertension kills 7.5 million people worldwide each year, which is more than AIDS, road accidents, diabetes, and tuberculosis combined. Often referred to as a "silent killer", because it gradually damages the heart, blood vessels, and other organs without any apparent symptoms, hypertension is the most common preventable cause of cardiovascular and non-communicable diseases throughout the world. The commonest complications associated with high BP include Coronary Artery Disease, Stroke, Heart Failure, Peripheral Vascular Disease, Renal Impairment, Retinal Haemorrhage, Visual impairment and others.

The symptoms of hypertension are variable. Patients may be entirely asymptomatic or may have headache, blurring or double vision, frequent nosebleeds, breathlessness, fatigue and tiredness, dizziness, restlessness, irregular heartbeat, pain in the chest, pain and swelling of the legs etc. Some of the behavioral symptoms due to hypertension include getting angry easily and at small things. People should not ignore or overlook these symptoms, but should consult a doctor for medication and management as well as take active steps to control the elevated blood pressure. This includes adopting a healthy lifestyle with the following easy steps!

Salt is often considered the only reason for high blood pressure. However, the truth is that salt is an essential nutrient that is required for life and health that the body cannot produce itself. The human body needs right amount of sodium for proper functioning of the nervous system and muscles - to conduct impulses through the nerves as well as for efficient contraction and relaxation of the muscles. Water and salt are necessary for effective metabolism, detoxification, and transportation of nutrients as well as for optimal functioning of the hormonal, nervous and immune systems. It is therefore necessary to ensure adequate intake of water and the right intake of salt to ensure good health!

Adopt a healthy diet! This includes eating the right amount of salt, as controlling the intake of sodium can help to manage hypertension. An adult should eat around 6g of salt a day, but most individuals eat more salt than this. To control hypertension, reducing salt intake leads to having to eat bland food which many individuals do not like and find it difficult to follow. One of the ways to keep food tasty while reducing intake of sodium is to use low sodium salt. Low sodium salt is refined, iodised and potassium enriched and has lower sodium than regular salt. It is also a convenient means to take preventive measures towards keeping the blood pressure and weight in check. If one is on a potassium restricted diet due to kidney problems or is on blood pressure medications, then one should consult a doctor before starting to use low sodium salt. A healthy diet should also include food with less of fats or oils, less of carbohydrates and more protein. Food should be low in saturated fats. Should include vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds are rich in unsaturated fats that are beneficial for the heart. Diet should include lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Make healthy changes to one's lifestyle. At work, take the stairs instead of the elevator, carry home-cooked food instead of ordering from restaurants, get up frequently and walk around every hour. Take up a form of exercise like brisk walking, yoga, swimming, etc. Ensure one gets 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night.

To sum it up, uncontrolled and untreated Hypertension may lead to various complications whereas adapting various strategies to reduce BP and keep it at normal levels will lead to improved cardiovascular and other risk outcomes related to Hypertension.

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Source:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
https://www.msjonline.org/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/
https://www.msjonline.org/
https://medlineplus.gov/
https://worldhappiness.report/