Sure, you get blood pressure every time you go to gyno - but without panicking the nurses, do you really know if your blood pressure is crazy? Anyway, what is considered high blood pressure?
Don't scare you off, but high blood pressure, or hypertension, is actually very common: about a third of American adults have it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Despite the attractions of being in a doctor's office (as you know, at the scale), your blood pressure reading definitely qualifies as one of the things you shouldn't ignore.
What is considered high blood pressure?
It sounds similar: "Basically, high blood pressure is when the pressure in the blood vessels is higher than it should be," says Dr. Shanna Levine, an internist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, a woman's health. "We have different categories, but once we reach a certain level, we call it hypertension."
Your blood pressure is measured by two numbers: systolic (how much pressure the heart pumps into the blood vessels and the whole body) and diastolic (how much pressure the blood puts on the walls of the arteries during breaks between heartbeats), according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
If your phone number is below 120/80, you know. Prehypertension begins when blood pressure rises from 120 to 129 and falls below 80. Stage 1 hypertension is 130 to 139 between 80 and 89; Stage 2 hypertension over 90 years of age or higher, 140 or higher; According to the American Heart Association, a hypertensive crisis occurs when systolic blood pressure rises by 180 and diastolic blood pressure rises by about 120.
Hypertension complications (AKA Why you Should Care)
High blood pressure is a direct killer.
"This leads to two common conditions that are actually the number one cause of death in the United States," Levin said. "It can lead to heart attacks and strokes, so getting your blood pressure under control is the most important thing you can do to prevent death from heart attacks and strokes."
"If you have high blood pressure long enough, certain parts of your body will start to shut down."
Blood puts pressure on the walls of arteries, veins, and capillaries, and when it's consistently too high, those walls can be damaged. This, in turn, Narrows blood vessels, making it harder for the heart to work.
"If you have high blood pressure long enough," she added, "you start getting what we call organ damage, parts of your body start shutting down," Levine explains that if left unchecked, a persistent lack of oxygen can cause problems in your kidneys, in addition to your heart and brain.
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As many as half of Americans have high enough blood pressure to have serious health problems, according to the American Heart Association.
Signs of hypertension
Be clear: Most people have zero blood, they have high blood pressure.
But some people feel a little lame. High blood pressure can cause headaches, nausea, chest pressure, and general discomfort, Levine says. Other symptoms of high blood pressure may include:
Your parents have high blood pressure
Do you have brain fog?
You're bloated and constipated
Your eyesight is worse
You're very dizzy
How to Prevent Hypertension
Basically, you have to stop this much.
Excessive drinking, smoking, and inactivity all raise a person's risk of developing high blood pressure, so Levine recommends two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week. She added that the goal for women should be to limit alcohol consumption to once a day.
High blood pressure can also be reversed with drugs, she says, although there are some clear steps people can take before getting to that point.
Eating less junk can also help you start increasing portions of fruits and vegetables and cutting back on processed foods. "Look at the sodium on the package," she suggested. "It's not the salt that we put on our food, it's the sodium that's hidden in our food," which can cause problems.
To bring high blood pressure back to acceptable levels, many doctors recommend the DASH diet (which stands for "Dietary Approaches to Stop High blood pressure"), which advocates whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products; Lean meat and fish; nuts, seeds, and legumes; Fats and sweets, in descending order.
Ultimately, seeing a doctor is a good idea - not necessarily every year, Levine says, but every few years. In the meantime, check your blood pressure so you know your phone number.
"The sooner you know you have [high blood pressure]," Levine says, "the sooner you start reversing it."
