We have learned about the various risks that high blood pressure poses to the human body. Since hypertension can pose such a great risk to people, what should be done once you have it?
First, the attitude should be taken seriously.
As we have mentioned many times in the previous short article, hypertension in most cases does not cause significant discomfort, unless there is a sharp increase in blood pressure for a short period of time or damage to target organs such as the heart and brain, there will be no symptoms serious enough to affect daily life, and many hypertensive patients do not pay attention to hypertension. Therefore, we need to repeatedly emphasize: no discomfort is not the same as no harm, as long as the blood pressure is at an abnormally high level, damage to the blood vessels of the whole body will continue to develop! Moreover, once such damage is caused, it is often not easily reversible. Therefore, once you have high blood pressure, we must have a “strategic attention to it” attitude.
Second, the psychological to be calm.
Often patients with hypertension do not want to admit that their blood pressure is high and do not want to accept the fact that they need to take antihypertensive drugs. In fact, in most cases, hypertensive patients can control their blood pressure to normal as long as they make good lifestyle adjustments and adhere to regular medication, so that they can avoid the damage caused by hypertension. Therefore, once you are confirmed to have high blood pressure, please face it correctly and take it in stride, knowing that there are about 200 million people with high blood pressure in the country, so there is absolutely no need to be shy about taking antihypertensive drugs as far as high blood pressure is concerned.
Third, life should be adjusted.
Lifestyle adjustment is the key to preventing and controlling hypertension, and it is vital for hypertensive patients to do this well. A large amount of evidence confirms that some unscientific and unreasonable lifestyle habits are one of the main causes of hypertension, so the treatment of hypertension must all be based on lifestyle adjustments. It mainly includes low-salt diet, no smoking and alcohol restriction, weight control, regular exercise, stress reduction, and sleep assurance.
1, the so-called low salt, means that the total amount of salt in the food eaten every day should be controlled within 5 grams, which is the amount of salt in a spoon as big as a thumbnail, a flat spoon. Because the main component of salt is sodium chloride, and excessive intake of sodium can cause an increase in blood pressure. Therefore, for hypertensive patients, the daily diet of three meals needs to be based on light, less salty foods, a variety of pickled foods, preserved products, halogen products, the national preference of the tongue delicious, need to avoid as much as possible, of course, occasionally, shallow taste is possible. In the reduction of high-salt food at the same time, you can add more potassium-rich food, mainly green vegetables, fresh fruit, etc., because the impact of potassium on blood pressure is the opposite of sodium, potassium intake is conducive to lower blood pressure.
2, the so-called ban on smoking and alcohol, is not smoking, less alcohol. Hypertension and smoking are two major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, smoking can directly induce hypertension, but also promote hypertension caused by vascular damage, so people with hypertension must completely ban smoking. Quitting smoking is not easy for people who have smoked for a long time and are dependent on tobacco;
However, although quitting smoking can cause physical and psychological withdrawal discomfort, it is only for a short period of time, and it is worth the discomfort for a short period of time in order to avoid the various hazards associated with long-term smoking and to enjoy a high quality of longevity! No matter how old you are or how long you have been smoking, there are benefits to be gained by quitting, so for all hypertensive patients who are smoking, it is highly recommended to quit immediately! If you have difficulty quitting smoking, you can go to a hospital smoking cessation clinic for help, and you can try drugs such as “Changpei” and “Likre” to help you quit smoking.
In addition, it should be noted that secondhand smoke is also harmful to hypertension and should be avoided. As for alcohol, the acute effect of alcohol is to dilate blood vessels, so acute alcohol poisoning will appear hypotension, but long-term drinking, especially a large amount of long-term drinking will make blood pressure rise, and will damage the function of blood vessels, promote vascular sclerosis, so people with hypertension better not drink alcohol. If you have a drinking hobby, you can choose red wine, but should be controlled within 100 ml (2 two) per day.
3, the so-called weight control, is to control the weight is not overweight state. Overweight and obesity are important causes of hypertension, and reducing excess weight can significantly reduce blood pressure. How to determine whether you are overweight or obese? There is a very simple calculation method: weight (kg) ÷ height (m)². The normal range is 18.5 to 23.9 kg/m², while a weight of 24 or more is considered overweight and a weight of 28 or more is obese.
In addition, you can also look at your waist circumference to determine, such as over men’s waist circumference reached 90 cm, women reached 85 cm, the same indicates that the weight is overweight. For patients with hypertension, if they are overweight or obese, then weight loss is a must. However, weight loss is not an easy task, and I will write a short article on this topic separately.
In short, the most effective way to reduce weight is just two things: eat less and move more. In terms of diet, high-fat rich food, sweets (including sugary drinks and alcohol) should be eaten as little as possible, rice, noodles and other staple foods also need to be properly controlled, eat until you are not hungry. In terms of exercise, it is necessary to follow the regular exercise that will be mentioned below. The speed of weight loss varies from person to person, and a weekly loss of 1 to 2 pounds is more appropriate. For some patients with severe obesity, but also need to use some auxiliary weight loss drugs under the guidance of doctors.
4, the so-called regular exercise, is to carry out 3 to 5 times a week aerobic exercise, each 30-60 minutes can, of course, can exercise once a day is better. It has been confirmed that long-term regular exercise can effectively reduce blood pressure, while helping to control weight. Aerobic exercise can be walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, rhythmic exercises, etc. The specific choice of that form of exercise, choose how much exercise should be based on personal interest and physical endurance status. The benefits of exercise team hypertension and overweight is certain, but only long-term persistence will have good results.
5, the so-called reduce stress, refers to reduce mental stress. A long period of time in a state of excessive mental stress can cause a psychological stress response, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in hypertensive patients. The more hypertensive people need to have a sunny mindset, to learn to relax, to ensure good sleep, if they can not adjust, may wish to seek professional psychological counseling or treatment to help reduce mental and psychological stress.
Fourth, the treatment should be scientific.
Once confirmed as hypertension, then you need to start treatment as soon as possible, the earlier the blood pressure is controlled, the smaller the risk; conversely, wait until there are obvious complications and then start treatment, even if the blood pressure is also well controlled, but the risk is often difficult to completely eliminate.
Many people with hypertension have the style of “following advice”, but this “advice” is often not the advice of professional doctors, but the advice of some so-called “old patients with hypertension”. The “advice” is often not the advice of a professional doctor, but the advice of some so-called “old patients”. A said A medicine is good, followed by eating A medicine, B said a certain antihypertensive device is good, and followed by changing the antihypertensive device. In fact, hypertension has different characteristics in different people, which is called individualization, so different people need different treatment plans.
It is strongly recommended that hypertensive patients first go to a cardiovascular physician for professional examination and treatment at the very beginning of the treatment phase. When to start using antihypertensive drugs, which type of antihypertensive drugs to use, and which risk factor control drugs need to be used at the same time, etc., should follow the advice of a professional doctor. After blood pressure is stabilized, blood pressure can be monitored regularly in a community health facility. Generally speaking, people whose blood pressure is still higher than normal after 3 to 6 months of good lifestyle adjustment need to take antihypertensive drugs.
As far as antihypertensive drugs are concerned, there is basically no question of which is the best and which is the worst, but only the question of which is more suitable for you, most people need several types of drugs in combination, which is slightly troublesome, but now there are many compound preparations available. By suitable drugs, I mean drugs that have an ideal and stable effect on lowering blood pressure, while not causing other discomfort, and once you figure out the right drug, you can stick with it for a long time.
Even if the blood pressure is very normal in the case of taking the medication, you should not just change the medication and stop taking it, even if it is a New Year’s holiday, remember that the majority of hypertension will not be broken. All medication changes or dose adjustments are recommended to be made under the guidance of a professional cardiovascular physician.
In conclusion, because hypertension has definite and significant risks, it is important to take it seriously. But these harms can be prevented and controlled; the key lies in each individual’s own awareness and determination. The vast majority of patients who are proven to have high blood pressure can still enjoy their lives as much as those who do not have high blood pressure if they follow the above-mentioned rules.