Healthy Living and
Monitor Blood Pressure

A persistently raised blood pressure above 140/90mmHg greatly increases your risk of developing stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, sexual dysfunction and even reduced mental ability.

If you are NOT obese, or diabetic, and do not have any other medical problem, a blood pressure level of 160/100mmHg will need treatment with medications.

For the obese, diabetic, smokers, high levels of cholesterol, strong family history of heart disease, or sudden deaths, treatment of high blood pressure with medication is required at an earlier level...usually at 140/90mmHg.

"Practice healthy living and monitor blood pressure," is what my doctor has been telling me for years. It wasn't until the last year or so that I began to finally understood what that could mean for my life. It was a wake-up call when I found out that my test showed the walls of my heart were thickening due to stress, or something called hypertension.

High blood pressure refers to a high level of tension in your arteries due to blood flow, and is often called "hypertension". Prolonged hypertension greatly increases your chances developing heart diseases, and having heart attacks or strokes, so it is critically important to take what steps you can to find some treatments and cures for high blood pressure that work for you.

How To Monitor Your Blood Pressure

Get a small blood pressure monitor from the market. These are easily available in most health shops or chemist. You could even order one online. Medisave.com is an international supplier of health and hospital equipment across the globe. You can get a blood pressure monitor from them online. Be sure to get one with the right cuff diameter for you. If you are obese (BMI greater than 25), you will likely need a large of extra-large cuff on the monitor.

Follow the instruction on the leaflet of your blood pressure monitor device and take your blood pressure at least once every week if you already suffer with high blood pressure. Check your blood pressure at least once every six months if you have not been previously diagnosed with high blood pressure.

Once you are comfortable measuring your blood pressure, you need to understand what healthy living and monitor blood pressure means in relation to lifestyle changes to help maintain your blood pressure. These changes include:

Stop Smoking

If you must practice a healthy living and monitor blood pressure effectively, you must give up smoking. This will by no means physically help to reduce your blood pressure, but it has been identified as the single most important healthy living lifestyle change that will reduce your risk of developing other related health problems arising from high blood pressure...mores so in the obese.

Some Exercise is Required

All doctors will tell you that exercising and keeping an active and healthy lifestyle is a great way to effectively reduce any hypertension. Even mild exercise done frequently, such as a short walk everyday, has been proven to be an effective cure for high blood pressure. The greatest cause of high blood pressure is inactivity, and due to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles hypertension is steadily on the rise.

Another thing doctors will tell you is to maintain healthy living and monitor blood pressure and weight. Obesity forces your heart to work much harder than it should in order to get blood to reach all the places it needs to go, which raises your blood pressure considerably. Just keeping a healthy weight can be a cure for high blood pressure for many people. This is of course easier said than done if you are overweight. Ideally, by boosting your activity levels as discussed above, you'll also be losing weight. So once again, exercise, and more exercise!

Watch Your Diet

What always goes hand in hand with exercise? Diet! A healthy diet can also be a cure for high blood pressure for many. This of course means low fat and low cholesterol foods, but it especially means avoiding too much sodium. No cure for high blood pressure is going to work if you eat a lot of sodium, so try not to put too much salt on your food and keep an eye on the sodium quantities in the foods you buy. Canned goods and precooked frozen items are often extremely high in sodium.

Also, avoid too much alcohol, caffeine, and stimulants, and don't smoke, ever. Smoking wreaks havoc on your blood pressure, and any kind of stimulant will boost it considerably as well. While drinking alcohol generally lowers blood pressure, when the effects where off your blood pressure often spikes the other way, causing an overall boost to blood pressure. Avoiding these substances certain is not a cure for blood pressure, but using them will sabotage any other efforts you are making.

Above everything, the best way to look into finding a cure for high blood pressure is to see your doctor and you too will hear the mantra you need healthy living and monitor blood pressure on a weekly basis. Because hypertension can have a number of causes, he or she may be able to help you narrow down your focus. For people that have tried everything discussed here and still have high blood pressure, a medication only your doctor can provide may be needed.

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