Eat less salt

130/85

RAISED

120/80

NORMAL

140/90

HIGH

Assess your risk

Hypertension rarely has any symptoms and anyone can be at risk, but some groups are more susceptible and should be extra vigilant. Your risk is higher if;

· You have a family history of high blood pressure, strokes or heart attacks

· You ’re overweight, eat too much salt, take little exercise, drink too much alcohol, and have a low intake of fruit and vegetables

· You have diabetes, kidney disease or heart disease

· You’re black or South Asian. Research suggests that black people are more sensitive to salt in the diet and have a higher risk of stroke, while South Asians have a higher risk of diabetes and heart attack

· When checked, your blood pressure was at the higher end of the normal range.

And if your blood pressure is still high?

For some people lifestyle changes will be enough to reduce blood pressure to a safe level, but others will need drugs that help open up the blood vessels, making it easier for the heart to function effectively or work through the brain to lower the body’s blood pressure. Once you start medication, you’ll be taking it for life, but there’s strong evidence that, as long as your blood pressure is well controlled, it will reduce your risk of stroke, heart attacks and heart failure.

DO YOU NEED TO WORRY?

Blood pressure - the force of blood against the artery walls - is measured in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) and recorded as two numbers: the systolic pressure (the pressure as the heart beats) over the diastolic pressure (as the heart relaxes between beats). Both numbers are important, but research has shown that it's the systolic pressure that reflects the damage to the arteries.

Your blood pressure is considered to be high if it's at this level.

If your blood pressure is in the normal range - around 120/80 or below - you should have it checked every three or four years.

You should be concerned if your blood pressure is in the upper range of normal -130/85. Even at this level, your risk of a stroke or heart attack increases threefold, and the Blood Pressure Association recommends that you have your pressure checked annually. If you have hypertension, your doctor will check it more frequently.

KEY WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF

You can't change your genes but you can change your lifestyle, and that alone could be enough to keep your blood pressure down. Even if it's normal, you should take steps to keep it that way. Blood pressure tends to rise with age. 'Not as an inevitable result of getting older,' says Professor MacGregor, 'but almost entirely as the result of eating an unhealthy, salt-laden diet.'

Research shows that too much salt causes a rise in blood pressure, and the more salt you eat, the higher the rise. A US study found that cutting salt by a third reduced blood pressure in people with both high and normal blood pressure. Most of us eat twice as much salt as we need - around 10-12g daily, when we should be aiming for 5-6g or less. So replace salt in cooking with herbs and spices for flavour and avoid processed food, which accounts for 75% of the salt in our diet. Other high-salt food includes bread, some breakfast cereals, processed meat such as sausages and bacon, soups, ready-prepared meals and takeaways. Check labels for the sodium or salt content, or for other sodium molecules like monosodium glutamate or sodium bicarbonate. To work out the sodium content, divide the salt content by two and a half, low sodium is 0 3g per 100g or under.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29