Hyperture comes creeping and suddenly lead to a stroke or heart attack. However, there are three lifestyle factors with which you can counteract this yourself.
Hypertension: If your family doctor puts this diagnosis, you have increased blood pressure. Deckisch: In most cases, he does not have any complaints, which is why some tends to dismiss him as harmless.
However, the high blood pressure remains untreated, one day it can take revenge bitterly. The good news: the risk can be reduced. The most important questions at a glance:
What about blood pressure?
Our heart pumps our blood through the body to supply the organs with vital oxygen. The pressure that prevails in the bloodstream of a person can be measured.
Upper arm or wrist into the cuff, which first contracts firmly and then lets go: two values come out with a blood pressure measurement. After all, the blood does not flow through the body in an even stream. There is an upper value and one lower – in a doctoral language: a systolic and a diastolic.
Values under 120 to 70 mmHg are considered normal in adults, according to the German Heart Foundation. If the blood pressure is repeated or over 140 to 90 mmHg, there is a need for action, the pressure must be reduced. According to the experts, this also applies if one of the two values is increased.
By the way: It is quite normal that blood pressure fluctuates during the day, it falls significantly at night. Coffee, black or green tea can increase the values significantly at short notice, according to the German Heart Foundation.
Where does high blood pressure come from?
“There is a genetic component,” says Prof. Peter Radke, chief physician of the Clinic for Internal Medicine and Cardiology of the Schön Klinik Neustadt. Many patients report that the grandmother always had to take blood pressure lowerers.
But not only the genes determine whether a person gets the diagnosis of “hypertension” in the course of his life. Lifestyle habits also play a role: this can be overweight, high alcohol consumption and lack of exercise risk factors for high blood pressure.
Why is increased blood pressure at all?
Because the heart muscle works against too high resistance, he thickens – especially on the left heart chamber. “You could think that this is great, thicker muscles mean more strength,” says Peter Radke.
But it is not like that: because the muscle gains thickness in the long run, he gets problems with lashing. The result: blood and water traffic back, can get into the lungs and lead to heart failure in the long run. And: Because the heart is more challenged, it is exhausted in the long run.
Due to the higher pressure in the system, the vessels are damaged over time, “then the blood flow to the kidney, for example, becomes worse or eye problems arise,” says Peter Radke.
High blood pressure can bring serious complications in the long run. “There are two major risks that patients carry directly through high blood pressure: these are heart failure and the stroke,” says Radke. It is therefore important that high blood pressure is recognized and treated in good time.
How do I recognize whether I could have high blood pressure?
Long time: not at all. “It is assumed that every third of the high blood pressure is affected worldwide and that every third of them have no diagnosis. He is a hidden danger because it is initially not noticeable in most patients,” says Peter Radke.
If there are complaints, “high blood pressure has been running for a long time,” said the doctor. How hypertension is noticeable can differ from person to person. Typical are the shortage of air under stress, pressure on the chest, headache, nosebleeds, dizziness.
In the best case, high blood pressure is discovered before causing problems – for example when checking through the doctor’s office. The national pension guideline, on which general practitioners are based, stipulates that blood pressure should be measured at least once a year from the age of 40.
High blood pressure: You can do these 3 things against it
As with many diseases, high blood pressure also applies: it is worth changing lifestyle. Where you can start:
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Nutrition: It should be balanced – lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grain products and legumes – and above all low in salt. Because salt binds water in the body, which increases blood pressure. The grip for the spreader at the dining table is the smaller problem: “Many people think that they are then no longer allowed to salt their egg. The salt that they consume is, especially in things like bread, cheese and in the sausage,” says Radke.
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Stress reduction: Stress continues to increase blood pressure. Therefore, the following applies: Enough breaks, relaxation and sleep into everyday life – as difficult as it is sometimes.
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Fitness: endurance sports are considered a natural blood pressure lower. “My recommendation is to do what you like to do anyway – whether walks, cycling, swimming or moderate training,” says Radke. The German Heart Foundation advises to be active five times a week for 30 minutes. In order to find an intensity that does not contaminate the heart too much, you can orientate yourself on the rule of thumb “running without wheezing”.
Integrating sufficient exercise into everyday life is generally good for health. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends moving with moderate intensity at least 150 minutes every week. However, a meta study from 2023 found that isometric exercises are particularly suitable for reducing blood pressure. These are exercises in which the muscle are tense without moving, for example planking or wall seats.
What about medication?
Affected people may get a slightly increased blood pressure under control with changes in their lifestyle. If the blood pressure values are high, the doctor prescribes blood pressure lowerer.
Hyperture is often treated with a combination of medication from different substance groups. “Most of the time you start with a calcium antagonist and an ACE inhibitor or an AT1 blocker,” says Peter Radke. After a few weeks it is checked how the blood pressure behaves – and whether you have to readjust if necessary.
But some are rather little disciplined when it comes to swallowing the tablets every day. “Patients who have high blood pressure, but no symptoms, cannot always motivate themselves so well,” says Radke. His advice: “But you have to see it as an investment in the future.”
Patients whose hypertension has been untreated for a long time often notice tiredness, dizziness or headache when they take medication. “They misunderstand these symptoms as side effects of the medication – this is the effect: blood pressure is reduced.” “
How important is it to measure your blood pressure yourself?
For those affected, it makes sense to add a blood pressure monitor to keep an eye on the values. “But there are also those who measure too much and then be crazy,” says Peter Radke.
If this is the case, you can use the following scheme: Measure in the first week of a month when it fits and note the results in a blood pressure diary. “And then you take three weeks of break – only if you feel bad,” said the cardiologist.
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