What is high blood pressure?
Blood pressure measures the force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels. Extra fluid in the body increases the amount of fluid in blood vessels and makes blood pressure higher. Narrow, stiff, or clogged blood vessels also raise blood pressure.

Hypertension can result from too much fluid in normal blood vessels or from normal fluid in narrow, stiff, or clogged blood vessels.
People with high blood pressure should see their doctor regularly.

What are the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure?

Most people with high blood pressure have no symptoms. The only way to know whether a person’s blood pressure is high is to have a health professional measure it with a blood pressure cuff. The result is expressed as two numbers. The top number, called the systolic pressure, represents the pressure when the heart is beating. The bottom number, called the diastolic pressure, shows the pressure when the heart is resting between beats. A person’s blood pressure is considered normal if it stays at or below 120/80, which is commonly stated as “120 over 80.” People with a systolic blood pressure of 120 to 139 or a diastolic blood pressure of 80 to 89 are considered prehypertensive and should adopt lifestyle changes to lower their blood pressure and prevent heart and blood vessel diseases. A person whose systolic blood pressure is consistently 140 or higher or whose diastolic pressure is 90 or higher is considered to have high blood pressure and should talk with a doctor about the best ways to lower it.

How can blood pressure be controlled?
1. Lifestyle changes:  People with prehypertension or high blood pressure should:

• maintain their weight at a level close to normal.
• eat fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, and low-fat dairy foods.
• limit their daily salt, or sodium, intake to 2,000 milligrams. Keeping a sodium diary can help monitor sodium intake.
• get plenty of exercise—at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, such as walking, cycling, or swimming, most days of the week.
• avoid consuming too much alcohol. Men should have no more than two drinks—two 12-ounce servings of beer or two 5-ounce servings of wine or two 1.5-ounce servings of hard liquor—a day. Women should have no more than a single serving a day because differences in the way foods are broken down in the body make women more sensitive to the effects of alcohol.

2. Medications: Many people need medicine to control high blood pressure. Several effective blood pressure medicines are available. The most common types of blood pressure medicines doctors prescribe are diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers. Two of these medicines, the ACE inhibitors and ARBs, have an added protective effect on the kidneys. Studies have shown that ACE inhibitors and ARBs reduce proteinuria and slow the progression of kidney damage. Diuretics, also known as “water pills,” help a person urinate and get rid of excess fluid in the body. A combination of two or more blood pressure medicines may be needed to keep blood pressure below 130/80.
Deerghayu Lifestyle Clinic provides complete patient care by prescribing appropriate medicines and suggesting lifestyle changes that are needed to control its patient’s blood pressure.
The healthcare services of Deerghayu include trained physicians, lab facility, dietician, physiotherapist and dedicated place to exercise so as to help you achieve your goals.

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Text Courtesy: National Institute of health