Naturally, eating has been our main source of sustenance. Not only is food a source of energy and nutrients for the body, but it’s also known for being medicine to the body by bringing in much-needed substances that can help against diseases and toxins, such as antioxidants. But other than being healthy to the body, eating too much and having a sedentary lifestyle can usually lead to complications in the body.
The buildup of cholesterol in the body can often lead to hypertension. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hypertension affects a good portion of the United State’s adult population. There are around 108 million individuals, which accounts for around 45% of the adult population with hypertension. Although this might seem like a common health complication, it’s also one of the primary contributions to death rates in the country, with over 500,000 deaths attributed to high blood pressure back in 2018.
What Is Hypertension, and What Causes It?
First and foremost, we have to know the causes of high blood pressure to mitigate its effects on the body effectively. But what is hypertension? Also known as high blood pressure, this refers to the force of how blood is flowing throughout much of the individual’s body through the heart and arteries. This is often characterized by the circulatory system pumping even more blood to the body than what’s considered “normal” while the arteries are narrow.
There are two types of hypertension:
- Primary hypertension – This is one of the most common. There’s no one cause to it, and it will usually stretch towards a couple of years. Much of the cause comes from external factors, including the patient’s environment, lifestyle, food intake, and age.
- Secondary hypertension – This is often related to the intake of certain types of medicine or health complications related to high blood pressure. This can include sleep apnea, problems with adrenaline, and kidney issues.
It’s important to note that hypertension tends to run in the family and is often correlated with cardiovascular heart disease. If you’re at risk of diseases related to hypertension, you might want to consider keeping in touch with healthcare services in your area that have CIT platforms, which are known for helping crisis intervention teams cut down on response time for emergencies. For these types of complications, time is of the essence.
Still, there’s really no one main cause for having high blood pressure, and there are a variety of factors that you’ll need to take into account. If this is the case, what can you do to regulate hypertension?
Lifestyle Changes and Weight Loss
One of the best ways of ensuring that you won’t have any problems with your blood pressure is by having a physically active lifestyle through exercising or playing sports. Not only will it decrease the likelihood of getting hypertension, but this can help with the proliferation of several diseases.
In the long term, exercising can help lose weight and excess body fat, which is known for being a contributor to high blood pressure. Most lifestyle experts would suggest having at least 150 minutes of modern-intensity exercises to help lower blood pressure.
Change of Pace
Other than changing your lifestyle, you might want to have a change in your environment as well. Living in a high-stress environment is usually the cause of high blood pressure. Not only will this affect your health, but your mental health is also on the line if you subject yourself to such environments. You might want to change your pace by staying in a peaceful environment, which can help with heart rate levels.
There are various causes of hypertension, which is usually attributed to the individual’s lifestyle and diet. Still, factors such as your family’s medical history, age, and vices like smoking are often the main contributors to hypertension. You’ll need to assess your current lifestyle and habits to prevent hypertension. As with any health-related concerns, it’s best to have the professional opinion of a medical practitioner.
