Do you know your average blood pressure reading? Do you know a normal blood pressure should be? High blood pressure, also called hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults worldwide. It affects more people than any disease in the world. Untreated hypertension leads to unhealthy feelings and symptoms. It causes heart disease, strokes, kidney failure, blindness, poor circulation, and more.
A normal reading is 120/80. For more accurate measures of your blood pressure and what affects it, you should do home blood pressure monitoring. Buy a blood pressure monitor for home use. Wrist and arm monitors are available in many stores on and off line. Record your blood pressure readings daily starting with morning, midday, and night. Make a note of your activity and how you are feeling. You may notice that extreme anxiety makes it go up. The correlation to your pressure will help you manage the things that make it go up. Share your results with your doctor so medication and lifestyle changes can be made if necessary.
You may find that while your blood pressure is high in the doctor's office, it may be normal in everyday activity. Remember, the doctor's result is a one time reading every one to four or more months. With normal home results, and high results at your doctor visits you may have "white coat" hypertension. There is much controversy over whether this should be treated. Check with your primary care doctor and cardiologist.
If your blood pressure is above 120/80, you want to start a low salt, low fat diet. One of the best is the DASH diet. Integrating healthy food, exercise, weight control, and stress reduction in your treatment plan improves the way you feel. It also controls blood pressure. For higher blood pressure readings, medication may be necessary. Be sure to take your home blood pressure results in to your doctor. This will help in deciding on the best treatment for you. Best health!
White Coat Hypertension: Is It Really High Blood Pressure? http://bit.ly/1cGaeMj
