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Have you been checking your blood pressure at home? Perhaps it was checked at your recent doctor visit.
It can be concerning to find it elevated, because we know that elevated blood pressure increases your risk for cardiovascular events, heart disease, heart failure, strokes, and dementia.
What is high blood pressure? How does it happen? How can we prevent it? What can we do about it?
Keep reading so we can walk-through the answers to these questions.
High blood pressure is one of the most prevalent and modifiable risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, dementia, and chronic kidney disease. That is powerful!
There are several societies that have produced guidelines to help understand risks associated with blood pressure. Recommended goal blood pressures also differ among them.
Today we will focus on the ACC (American College of Cardiology) guidelines
Normal blood pressure is <120/80
Elevated Blood pressure 120-129/80
Stage 1 – 130-139/80-89
Stage 2- >140/90
Severe >180/>120
Many patients ask how did I get elevated blood pressure? The etiology of blood pressure is likely multifactorial but could be the result of numerous genetic as well as environmental factors including weight, diet, stressors.
Next, we will review some ways that you can intervene on your elevated blood pressure without medications.
Let’s talk about the DASH dietary pattern-this is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy products. With excellent adherence, you can lower your blood pressure by greater than 10 points.
Additionally, weight loss is imperative if you are overweight. Aim for at least 5% reduction in body mass for 5 points lowering of blood pressure.
Reduce your sodium intake. Optimal intake is less than 1500mg/day. This is very challenging to achieve, and most physicians would agree that less than 1800 mg/day is appropriate. This can lower your blood pressure by about 5 points.
Reducing alcohol intake. Males should have less than 2 drinks daily and females, less than 1 drink daily. This can lower your blood pressure by 4 points.
As primary care physicians, we are fairly aggressive with efforts to lower blood pressure, because it has so many impacts on overall health.
If despite lifestyle changes, your blood pressure remains elevated, consult your primary care physician. It may be time to start medications.