High BP: The silent killer
For some, high blood pressure does not require any introduction. They have been living with it for years, with an accompanying general anxiety. But for others, especially young adults busy building their lives, high BP should not be overlooked.
Stress has become synonymous with modern life. Be it paying the bills, or finishing that assignment -- we are constantly on edge, chasing our objectives. In this pursuit, we overlook the toll our health pays over time. High BP is a silent killer that secretly builds itself for years and attacks us with ferocity we may have never experienced before.
Scientifically speaking, high BP is a condition where the pressure within the blood vessels is higher than normal and it makes our heart work unusually fast. But if you can use your relaxing sources to calm down, you're good to go, right? Not quite, since it's a double whammy.
High BP compounds over time. While high BP anxiousness episodes risk cardiac arrests, the compounding effect also weakens your heart muscle and gradually pushes it to succumb to a cardiac arrest later down the line.
An ideal heart rate, or blood pressure measurement, as we call it, is around 120/80. Anything above a 120 or an 80 is an indication of high BP. Even though the symptoms are not certain, there are indications that the likelihood of high BP increases if a person is overweight, consumes high amount of salt, does not get enough sleep etc. Sometimes, high BP can even be hereditary.
The first point of contact should be a doctor. But to control high BP, changing your lifestyle is imperative. Cutting excessive consumption of salt, smoking and drinking less, even a cut in coffee is a good idea, and exercise always helps. In a nutshell, the home prevention regime should include activities that can cut down on things that exacerbate stress.
Our heart is the engine that keeps us going day after day. If some healthy choices can help keep this machine spick and span, is it not worth the efforts? Look at it this way: No one wants to feel like sitting on a scary roller coaster while stuck in traffic.