Hypertension and the comorbidities that come with it are a permanent pain for our government and our nation. Why? Because the prevalence of hypertension among adults in China is nearly 30%, and the total number of hypertensive people is about 270 million; and the varieties of antihypertensive drugs in China are almost in sync with developed countries abroad, and some even exceed those countries. However, China’s hypertension treatment control attainment rate is only 27.4%, which is significantly lower than that of developed Western countries, which cannot be said to be a sad. According to a study on the mortality rate of major diseases and causes of death of Chinese urban residents in 2015, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases caused by hypertension ranked second and third in the mortality rate after tumors.
The key to controlling hypertension lies in the management of blood pressure, especially lifestyle management. We recommend an article to show you how to control your blood pressure. The end of poor blood pressure control is not a regret can bear, but the consequences of uremia, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, cerebral hemorrhage, and even sudden death, consequences and regret a word difference, the conclusion is not the same about.
Hypertension is a “cardiovascular syndrome”, control of hypertension can prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease and death.
Hypertension incidence and harm
Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality in our population.
Hypertension is a “cardiovascular syndrome”, and controlling hypertension can prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease and death. The general goal for hypertensive patients is to lower blood pressure to <140/90 mmHg; this can be further reduced if tolerated.
These are misconceptions
For hypertension, the following are common misconceptions among patients, all of which are misconceptions and behaviors that must be corrected.
× Prevention and control of hypertension is a personal issue
× The concept of hypertension diagnosis is unclear
× Using medication based on feelings and estimating blood pressure based on symptoms
× Reluctance to take medication prematurely
× Stopping medication when blood pressure is normal
× Relying solely on medication and neglecting lifestyle improvement
× Only taking medication without looking at the effect
× Take medication on their own
× Rely on infusions to treat high blood pressure
× The faster and lower the blood pressure, the better
× Excessive attention to blood pressure values and nervousness
× Blood pressure measured by yourself at home is not accurate.
Lifestyle management of hypertension
The first and foremost treatment for hypertension is blood pressure control, with early benefit from early blood pressure lowering and long-term benefit from long-term blood pressure lowering. In addition to medication, treatment also includes changing unhealthy lifestyles, i.e., removing behaviors and habits that are detrimental to physical and mental health. It can not only prevent or delay the occurrence of hypertension, but also lower blood pressure and improve the efficacy of antihypertensive drugs, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
1.Rational diet
(1) Reduce sodium intake. The most important key point of hypertension diet therapy is salt reduction. Sodium can significantly raise blood pressure and the risk of hypertension, while potassium salt can counteract the role of sodium in raising blood pressure. The sodium intake of our population is significantly higher than the current WHO recommendation of less than 6 grams per day.
(2) Limit total calories, especially control the type and intake of fats and oils. Reduce animal food and animal oil intake to reduce the intake of trans fatty acids, the main source is containing artificial milk food oil moderate use of olive oil.
Hypertension patients eating cooking oil four points of attention.
①Choose safe ones there, i.e. hygienic indicators, process and quality control standards strictly meet national standards.
②Choose fats with reasonable fatty acid quantity and composition ratio, such as olive oil and tea oil.
③The daily cooking oil dosage is less than 25g (half a tael, equivalent to 2.5 tablespoons).
④Control the cooking temperature, the oil temperature should not be too high.
(3) Balanced nutrition. Moderate amount of protein; moderate amount of fresh vegetables and fruits: It is advocated that hypertensive patients eat about 8 taels to 1 pound of fresh vegetables and 1~2 fruits daily. For hypertensive patients with diabetes, under the premise of stable blood sugar control, choose low-sugar or medium sugar-containing fruits, including apples, kiwis, strawberries, pears, grapefruit, etc., and eat about 200 grams per day as an additional meal.
Increase calcium intake, low calcium diet is prone to increase blood pressure. Calcium intake is negatively correlated with the age-related increase in systolic blood pressure. A simple, safe and effective way to supplement calcium is to choose appropriate high-calcium foods, especially to ensure the intake of milk and its products, 250 to 500 ml of skim or low-fat milk daily. For those who are lactose intolerant, sour milk or de-lactose milk powder can be tried. Some patients choose to take calcium supplements under the guidance of their doctors.
(4) Food selection for patients with hypertension
The diet of hypertensive patients should be light, low salt, low fat and low sugar; high vitamin, high fiber and high calcium.
Recommended foods.
Foods rich in potassium and calcium vitamins and trace elements: fresh vegetables, fruits, potatoes, mushrooms and other edible vegetable oils.
Foods rich in dietary fiber: oats, potatoes, mixed grains, coarse grains, etc.
Foods rich in high quality protein, low fat and low cholesterol: fat-free milk powder, egg green, fish, skinless poultry, lean meat, soy products, etc. Fish protein is high-quality protein, fish oil contains unsaturated fatty acids, should eat more fish.
2, weight control, avoid overweight and obesity
For patients with hypertension, weight control should be “concerned” in three areas.
(1) attention to the actual weight and the ideal weight “difference”
(2) Pay attention to the overall fat mass
(3) Concern about the distribution of fat throughout the body (body shape).
Weight loss is beneficial to the treatment of hypertension and can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients, with a 4 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure for every kilogram of weight lost.
Weight loss should be gradual, usually 0.5 to 1.0 kg per week, and it is appropriate to lose 5% to 10% of the original body weight within 6 months to 1 year. Do not advocate rapid weight loss, because one is easy to rebound, the second is the intake of calories too low will be detrimental to health, especially extreme control of diet will lead to malnutrition, electrolyte disorders and other side effects.
3, quit smoking and limit alcohol
Smoking hypertensive patients, the efficacy of antihypertensive drugs to reduce, often need to increase the dose of medication, long-term smoking hypertensive patients, the long-term prognosis is poor, the number of deaths from smoking-related diseases reached 1.4 million each year.
Long-term excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and alcohol consumption can also counter the antihypertensive effect of drugs, making it difficult to control blood pressure; after quitting alcohol, in addition to a drop in blood pressure, the patient’s effect on drug therapy is also greatly improved.
When you have to drink alcohol, try to slow down the speed of drinking, avoid “dry cup” or “a mouthful of blow”, drink with meals, slow down the absorption of alcohol, reduce the stimulation of alcohol on the stomach, do not drink highly potent alcohol.
4, moderate exercise
Exercise methods include: aerobic exercise, strength exercises, flexibility exercises, comprehensive functional exercises.
(1) Aerobic exercise is the most basic form of fitness for patients with hypertension, common forms of exercise are brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, rice dance, radio gymnastics, aerobic gymnastics, mountain climbing, stair climbing. It is recommended that at least 3 to 5 times a week, each time more than 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, it is best to adhere to the daily exercise. Walking speed:about 120 steps per minute, heart rate during exercise is equal to 170-age.
(2) strength exercises are recommended for hypertensive patients to perform strength exercises 2 to 3 times a week, with an interval of 48 hours or more between exercises. The pushing, pulling, tugging, lifting and pressing movements in life are all ways of strength exercises.
(3) Flexibility exercises can improve joint mobility, increase the body’s coordination and balance, and prevent falls.
(4) Integrated functional exercises including Tai Chi, yoga and Tai Chi softball, table tennis, badminton, etc.
(5) Physical activity in life appropriately increase physical activity in life can help hypertension air control and promote health. Patients with hypertension can do some housework, walking shopping and other activities, so that the total number of daily activities of walking to reach or close to 10,000 steps.
(6) the appropriate time for exercise: hypertension patients with early morning blood pressure is often at a relatively high level, early morning is also a high incidence of cardiovascular events, therefore, it is best to choose the afternoon or evening exercise.
5, psychological balance, relaxed mood
Preventing and relieving psychological stress is an important aspect of hypertension and cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment, creating a good psychological environment, cultivating a healthy psychosocial state of individuals, and correcting and treating pathological psychology.
The main methods of preventing and relieving psychological stress are.
(1) Avoid negative emotions and maintain an optimistic and positive attitude.
(2) Treat yourself and individuals correctly, be generous, deal with family and colleagues to enhance the resistance to psychological stress, develop the ability to cope with psychological stress learn to find a suitable psychological debugging method, and actively seek help in case of difficulties counseling is a scientific method to reduce mental stress.
(3) avoid and intervene in psychological crisis (a serious pathological psychology, once it occurs must seek timely medical attention).
6.Concerned about sleep
Poor sleepers, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring found that most of the non-circadian rhythm, night blood pressure is not lower than during the day, high blood pressure at night so that the whole body does not get sufficient rest, the target organs are vulnerable to damage. Hypertensive patients with insomnia, the next day blood pressure is bound to rise. Sleep is the best way to maintain health, and good sleep can help lower blood pressure. Those who have poor sleep should seek medical help to regulate, take hypnotics or sleep aids to improve the quality of sleep.
Pay attention to home blood pressure measurement
(1) Patients with hypertension are recommended to have regular home blood pressure measurements to understand their blood pressure levels; they can also identify “white coat hypertension” and detect “hidden hypertension”.
(2) Recommend the use of international standard certified upper-arm electronic sphygmomanometer; to protect the environment. Mercury sphygmomanometers should be phased out.
(3) For patients who are first diagnosed or whose blood pressure does not reach the standard or is unstable, the blood pressure should be measured once a day in the morning and once in the evening, and each measurement should be taken three times; the average of the last six days should be taken as a reference for treatment decisions. Patients who have reached the standard and stable blood pressure will be self-measured once a week, once in the morning and once in the evening.