Joe Barton asked:


Do you have high blood pressure? Do you have low blood pressure? This is an important question for your health and your life. Why? According to the American Heart Association (AHA), about one in three adults in the United States have high blood pressure. And only about 63 percent of those with high blood pressure are even aware that they have it. Causing, a heart wrenching of almost 60,000 Americans dying each year of complications related to high blood pressure. So what are the symptoms of high blood pressure?

Symptoms of High Blood Pressure

Unfortunately, the reason so many people don’t know they have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is that there aren’t really any clear symptoms of hypertension. However, some high blood pressure sufferers complain of: frequent headaches and dizziness. Therefore, if you even question that you or a loved one has high blood pressure, it is important to monitor your blood pressure regularly. And if you know your blood pressure is too high, you can do something about it TODAY. Keep reading!

Blood Pressure 101

What is blood pressure? Blood pressure is basically the force pushing on the arteries by your blood as it passes through them. Someone with high blood pressure has blood that is putting higher than normal pressure on the arteries. This puts more stress on the body. Hence, the heart has to work so hard to get the blood pumped through those arteries that it can actually enlarge and damage the heart, eventually causing a heart attack, stroke, aneurysm and other heart problems if left untreated. High blood pressure is not something to mess around with!

Causes for High Blood Pressure

What could put you at risk for high blood pressure? There are numerous causes but here is a list of the major ones:

Heredity: If your parents had high blood pressure, you are at risk.

Race: African Americans are most at risk. However, all ethnicities are on a rise.

Gender: Men are more likely than women to have high blood pressure.

Age: As you age, your risk of high blood pressure increases.

Salt Intake: Sodium intake has been linked with high blood pressure sufferers.

Obesity: Being overweight is a huge risk factor for high blood pressure.

Smoking: Smokers will often times be more at risk for hypertension.

A Sedentary Lifestyle: If you are required to sit a lot at your profession… your risk rises.

A Natural Cure for High Blood Pressure

Due to the seriousness of hypertension, doctors do have medications for sufferers. Including: Diuretics, Beta Blockers, ACE Inhibitors, Alpha Blockers and Vasodilators. However, here is the shocking part, as well as costing hundreds to thousands, many of these medications could have the following side-effects: kill nutrients in body, risk of asthma symptoms, speed heart rate, depletion of taste, rashes, cold symptoms, kidney problems, headaches, nausea, weight gain, and growth of hair. Not pleasant! Besides, I thought they were suppose to help hypertension sufferers?

Now the good news! There is an all-natural treatment for high blood pressure. Yes, you can drop points off your blood pressure reading in days! Doctors would agree there are numerous non-pharmaceutical things you can do lower your blood pressure. Start with these…

How to Lower Your Blood Pressure Today!

1. Educate Yourself! Most people **** studying but we’re talking about your life! Check out our web site below for more information on lowering your blood pressure.

2. Lose Weight! What are ways you can be more active and cut a few calories during each day? Jump on the scale in one week and you might be surprised. PS. Your blood pressure will drop too!

3. Lower your salt intake now. Try to lower your intake to less than 2,400 milligrams per day. If possible, go as low as 1,500 milligrams per day. Lower your salt… lower your blood pressure.

4. Get enough potassium. Eat foods rich in potassium including bananas, vegetable juice, potatoes, citrus fruits and fish.

5. Take those Calcium Pills and eat that low-fat dairy. This mineral is proven to help the cause of lowering blood pressure.

6. Pack in the fiber! Any fiber is going to be helpful for clearing out the excess gunk in your body and keeping the blood pressure normal. Switch to whole grain foods whenever possible.

Finally, don’t stop here! This is just the tip of the iceberg for getting your life back to normal and lowering your blood pressure. Please take a few more minutes and check out our high blood pressure/hypertension website. You would be amazed what others are saying about it! We offer a 100% satisfaction guaranteed report loaded with tons of information and tips to begin lowering your high blood pressure today! Life is priceless, please do not delay! You will drop points in months and feel like a new person! 100% guaranteed! What do you have to lose?

http://www.bloodpressurenormalized.com/hbp1/



Jamie

Author asked:


Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of the arteries each time your heart beats. Your blood pressure is highest each time the heart beats, pumping blood into the arteries. This is called systolic pressure, and is the high number in your reading. The diastolic pressure measures the pressure in between beats, when your heart is at rest. Your blood pressure is lowest while sleeping and although it varies some during the day, it remains close to the same. Normal blood pressure is 120/80. If your systolic pressure rises to 140 or above, or if your diastolic pressure rises to 90 or above, this is considered high blood pressure.

According to the American Heart Association, an estimated one in three U.S. adults have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, and an alarming one-third of those don’t even know they have it. It’s no wonder this condition has long been called “the silent killer”.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney failure. And when it exists with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol or diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke increases several times. If you don’t have high blood pressure by age 55, your chance of developing it at some point in your life is 90 percent, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Although high blood pressure can occur in both children and adults, it is most common in those over age 35, and is most prevalent in African Americans, middle-aged and elderly people, obese people, heavy drinkers and women taking birth control pills. Although many people get high blood pressure as they get older, it is not part of the aging process! Proper diet, exercise and lifestyle changes can help in prevention and lowering of blood pressure.

Commonly Prescribed Medication for High Blood Pressure.

In 90–95 percent of cases, research scientists don’t know what causes high blood pressure, but fortunately they know enough to have developed both drug and non-drug products to treat it effectively.

A wide variety of medications are available to medical professionals for treating high blood pressure. Although other classes of medications are sometimes prescribed, the most commonly prescribed can be broken down into five different classes of medications that work in different ways to lower pressure.

· Diuretics (water pills) work in the kidney to get rid of excess water and sodium.

· Beta-Blockers reduce nerve impulses to the heart and blood vessels to cause the heart to beat more slowly and with less force.

· Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors prevent the formation of a hormone called angiotensin II, which would otherwise cause vessels to narrow.

· Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB) block the action of angiotensin II.

· Calcium Channel Blockers prevent calcium from entering the muscle cells of the heart and blood vessels, causing blood vessels to relax.

As of June, 2005, there didn’t appear to be much global agreement among medical experts worldwide in terms of recommended first-line therapy for treating high blood pressure. It is important to note that in June, 2006, The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the British Hypertension Society have come to an agreement within the UK, and have issued new guidelines, including important changes to help guide primary care physicians in determining first-line therapy. A major change is that Beta-Blockers, which have been shown to be less effective in preventing strokes and more likely to cause diabetes, are no longer recommended as routine treatment for the majority of people with high blood pressure. Instead, ACE Inhibitors (or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers if there are side effects) are now recommended in the UK for most people, with some exceptions, before trying other classes of medication for hypertension.

As with any medication, there may be side effects from taking ACE Inhibitors, and some should not use them at all, including black people of any age. According to the Mayo Clinic, a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, also in June, 2006, indicated an increased risk of birth defects in children whose mothers took ACE inhibitors during the first trimester, adding to the known risks during the second and third trimesters. While most people can tolerate ACE Inhibitors, some may experience side effects such as cough, elevated blood potassium levels, low blood pressure, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, weakness, abnormal taste (metallic or salty taste), and rash. Rare, but more serious side effects include kidney failure, allergic reactions, a decrease in white blood cells, and swelling of tissues (angioedema).

Very similar to ACE Inhibitors are ARB medications, and depending on the individual’s particular health issues, a doctor may switch between the two, and may sometimes prescribe both. The most common side effects with ARBs are cough, elevated potassium levels, low blood pressure, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, diarrhea, abnormal taste sensation (metallic or salty taste), and rash. Compared to ACE inhibitors, cough occurs less often with ARBs. The most serious, but rare, side effects are kidney failure, liver failure, allergic reactions, a decrease in white blood cells, and swelling of tissues (angioedema).

On January 19, 2007, Rush University Medical Center reported findings that ACE Inhibitors and ARBs prevent people from getting diabetes, and that diuretics and beta-blockers increase the chance that a person becomes diabetic. The authors pointed out that more studies are required to determine whether new-onset diabetes leads to as many heart attacks, strokes or death, as long-standing diabetes. However, their data suggests that the differences between antihypertensive drugs regarding the risk for new-onset diabetes are real and are significant. Melaleuca offers a natural high blood pressure remedy called ProStolic™ which interacts with a natural body enzyme much like the ACE Inhibitors and ARB medications to relax blood vessels and allow healthy blood flow. As a comparison, it might be helpful to understand how the ACE and ARB class of drugs react, as well as how the non-drug hypertension remedy ProStolic™ formula reacts with the body.

In Part 2 of our Blood Pressure Research Report we will discuss the ACE Inhibitors and Angiotension Receptor Blockers, Natural Therapy for Maintaining Healthy Blood Pressure and benefits of Bioactive Casein Hydrolysate Tripeptides VPP and IPP.



Jamie

Alisha Dhamani asked:


Low blood pressure is a difficult clinical finding for a healthcare provider to address. While high blood pressure is known as the “silent killer,” because it is associated with few acute symptoms, hypotension (hypo=low + tension=pressure) may be normal for a patient if it is without symptoms, but can be of great importance if it is associated with abnormal body function.

Sometimes low is good, a goal to be achieved in keeping blood pressure under control. Sometimes low is bad because there is not enough pressure to provide blood flow to the organs of the body.

For low blood pressure to be a problem there needs to be a symptom associated with that low number. Readings below 120/80 may be normal depending upon the clinical situation. Many people have systolic blood pressures below 100, but some people develop symptoms with pressures that low. Symptoms of low blood pressure occur because one or more of the body’s organs is not getting enough blood supply.

If low blood pressure is the normal state for a patient, then there will be no symptoms. If low blood pressure is symptomatic, then the patient may feel lightheaded, dizzy and weak, short of breath, or have chest pain. The symptoms will depend upon which organ in the body is lacking adequate blood flow.

Blood pressure readings have two parts and are expressed as a ratio. “Normal” blood pressure, for example is 120/80 (120 over 80) and measures the pressure within the arteries of the body. Systolic pressure, the upper number, measures the pressure within the arteries when the heart is contracting (systole) to pump blood to the body. Diastole pressure, the lower number, measures resting pressures within the arteries, when the heart is at rest.

Normal blood pressure depends on many factors including age and body size. Infants and children have lower normal readings than adults. Smaller or petite patients may have lower normal blood pressure ranges.

According to American Heart Association guidelines, any reading greater than 120/80 is considered pre-hypertension or early high blood pressure.

You can think of the heart and the blood vessels (arteries and veins) as a system to pump blood, just like the oil pump in your car. Oil is pumped through rigid tubes. Pressure remains relatively constant throughout the pumping cycle unless the pump fails or there is an oil leak. Then oil pressure will fall.

The body is similar, except that the tubes have pliable walls, meaning that the space within the arteries can get bigger or smaller. If the space gets bigger, there is effectively less fluid, and pressure falls. If the space gets smaller, pressure goes up. Arteries have layers of muscles within their walls that can contract and narrow the artery, making less space inside the vessels.

Alternatively, the muscles can relax and dilate the artery, making more room. These muscles are under the control of the autonomic nervous system, the body’s automatic system that makes adjustments for moment-to-moment changes in the relationship of the body to the world. The autonomic nervous system has two pathways that balance each other.

The sympathetic nervous system uses adrenaline (epinephrine) to cause the muscles to contract (sympathetic tone). The nerves that help with this control are located in the sympathetic trunk, which is a group of nerves that runs alongside the spinal column. The parasympathetic system uses acetylcholine to make muscles in the blood vessel walls relax via the vagus nerve.

As an example, when you stand up, the blood vessels have to narrow just a little to cause a slight increase in blood pressure, so that blood can travel uphill to the brain. Without that change, you might feel lightheaded or pass out.

If low blood pressure causes clinical symptoms, the cause will be in one of three general categories. Either the heart is not pumping with enough pressure, the artery walls are too dilated, or there is not enough intravascular fluid (intra=within + vascular= blood vessels) within the system.

The heart is an electrical pump. Problems with either the pump or the electricity can cause problems with low blood pressure.

The valves of the heart allow blood to flow in only one direction. If a valve fails, blood can regurgitate backwards, minimizing the amount that will flow out to the body. If a valve becomes narrowed (stenotic), then blood flow may be decreased. Both situations may cause hypotension.

If the heart beats too quickly, blood pressure may fall because there isn’t enough time for the heart to refill in between each beat (diastole). If the heart beats too slowly, there may be too much time spent in diastole when blood is not flowing.

If the heart muscle has been damaged or irritated, there may not be enough pumping force to maintain blood pressure. In heart attack (myocardial infarction), enough heart muscle may be stunned so that the heart is too weak to pump effectively.

Diuretic medications [for example, hydrochlorothiazide (Hydrodiuril), furosemide (Lasix)] are used to control blood pressure by causing the kidneys to make more urine and decreasing the intravascular volume. If the patient loses too much water and becomes dehydrated, low blood pressure may result.

Beta blockers and calcium channel blockers are two commonly prescribed medications used for the treatment of high blood pressure. They may cause the heart to beat too slowly and thus cause hypotension. Any heart medication needs to be monitored by a healthcare provider to evaluate the body’s response and to select the appropriate dose.

Medications like sildenafil (Viagra) in combination with nitroglycerin may cause blood vessel dilation and low blood pressure.

Normal physiologic changes in pregnancy increase the intravascular space, especially in the first two trimesters, and can cause lower blood pressure. One of the complications of diabetes is damage to the nerves in the body, including those in the autonomic nervous system.

In those people with diabetes who have autonomic dysfunction, orthostatic hypotension can occur. The blood vessels are unable to adjust to quick positional changes.

If low blood pressure causes lack of blood flow to the organs of the body, then those organs will start to fail. This may result in stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and bowel ischemia (decreased blood supply to the small and large intestine). Shock and death are the end result of prolonged low blood pressure.



Steve

loraleerees asked:


 

Blood Pressure 101

Blood pressure is essential to your life, to keep your blood moving through your arteries and veins, bringing oxygen and nutrients to all parts of your body, and carrying away metabolic wastes to your kidneys for disposal.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, means that you have too much of a good thing. When your blood pressure significantly exceeds the level necessary for your blood to do its job, it can damage your arteries and veins, and also your body organs that they serve. For instance, a stroke may result from the rupture of a blood vessel within the brain. Hypertension may also damage your heart, your kidneys, and your eyes.

The American Heart Association website has many webpages dealing with various aspects of high blood pressure. Links to some of these pages are inserted here at appropriate places, for readers who wish to dig deeper.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2114

The causes of hypertension for most people are not well understood. However, its potential unfortunate effects are very well documented.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2152

There are may misconceptions and ‘urban legends’ about hypertension, that you should not believe.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3008517

In scientific work, pressure is often measured in millimeters of mercury, usually abbreviated as mm Hg since Hg is the chemical shorthand for mercury. This unit of measurement is the one normally used to characterize blood pressure. It is also used in meteorology to characterize atmospheric pressure.

A blood-pressure reading is actually two readings, stated in the form ss/dd, where ss is a value for systolic blood pressure and dd is a value for diastolic blood pressure. A systolic blood-pressure reading is a value taken during a pumping stroke of the heart; a diastolic blood-pressure reading is a value taken during the heart’s resting phase, in between pumping strokes. Most of us have 60-80 heartbeats per minute, with the nominal average being 72. Some researchers believe that an infant still in his or her mother’s womb gets conditioned to the sound of the mother’s heartbeat, and that is why so much of our music is set to rhythms having about 72 beats per minute!

An ideal healthy value for systolic blood pressure is 115-120 mm Hg; for diastolic blood pressure, 75-80 mm Hg. By way of comparison, sea- level air pressure is nominally about 1013 mm Hg.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=468

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2112

A consistent systolic reading in the range of 130-140 mm Hg, or a consistent diastolic reading in the range of 80-90 mm Hg, is considered to comprise prehypertension — meaning that you don’t yet have outright high blood pressure, but you’re heading in that direction. Even higher consistent readings comprise outright hypertension, and imply that you should begin mitigating treatments. A systolic reading consistently above 160, or a diastolic reading consistently above 100, is considered quite serious.

Blood pressure does fluctuate somewhat over time, during the day and over longer periods. When you are relaxed and at peace, it usually is lower. When you are anxious and/or stressed, it may go higher. Some people become nervous when visiting a doctor, and their blood pressure goes higher just for that reason; such people need to learn to check their own blood pressure accurately at home.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3025166

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3025144

Most people with hypertension have absolutely no symptoms. Many of them are quite unaware that they have a dangerous body condition. Almost always, the only way to find out if you have hypertension is by taking a direct measurement.

The usual method for accurately measuring blood pressure requires two medical instruments, a sphygnomanometer and a stethoscope. A sphygnomanometer is a pressure-measuring device with an inflatable cuff that is wrapped around your upper arm; the stethoscope is used to listen to the sound of blood flow in the large artery in your arm. The cuff is inflated by squeezing the sphygnomanometer’s rubber bulb until blood flow is temporarily stopped, and then the air pressure in the cuff is slowly released. If the person taking the measurements performs the procedure correctly, the sphygnomanometer pressure-gauge reading at the instant that the sound of blood flow first resumes is the systolic blood pressure, and the reading when the last sound is heard as the cuff fully deflates is the diastolic blood pressure.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=219

Your blood-pressure readings may vary by a few mm Hg between your right arm and your left arm, and also according to your posture and your state of relaxation.

Special blood-pressure risk factors apply to pregnant and post- menopausal women, athletes, people of African heritage, older people, obese people, diabetics, smokers, heavy drinkers, and people taking certain medications — in particular, decongestants and birth-control pills.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2123

No group of people is totally immune to hypertension. Even children and babies may be subject to it.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=214

A few people have low blood pressure or hypotension. (Note spelling difference!) Unless dizziness or fainting spells becomes a problem for such people, low blood pressure may not be harmful in and of itself.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3034848

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3025144

If you are subject to hypertension, see your doctor for advice. If your doctor approves, try taking Alistrol, which is very often helpful and has no known interactions with other medications that your doctor may prescribe or recommend.

http://www.alistrol.com/

 



Cheryl