High Blood Pressure

You can have high blood pressure (hypertension) for years without a single symptom. Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases your risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke.

Blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.

High blood pressure typically develops over many years, and it affects nearly everyone eventually. Fortunately, high blood pressure can be easily detected. And once you know you have high blood pressure, you can work with your doctor to control it.

Most people with high blood pressure have no signs or symptoms, even if blood pressure readings reach dangerously high levels.

Although a few people with early-stage high blood pressure may have dull headaches, dizzy spells or a few more nosebleeds than normal, these signs and symptoms typically don’t occur until high blood pressure has reached an advanced — even life-threatening — stage.

Based on recommendations of the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee of Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VII), the classification of blood pressure (expressed in mm Hg) for adults aged 18 years or older is as follows*:

†Normal blood pressure with respect to cardiovascular risk is less than 120/80 mm Hg. However, unusually low readings should be evaluated for clinical significance.
Normal† – Systolic lower than 120, diastolic lower than 80
Prehypertension – Systolic 120-139, diastolic 80-99
Stage 1 – Systolic 140-159, diastolic 90-99
Stage 2 – Systolic equal to or more than 160, diastolic equal to or more than 100
*Based on the average of 2 or more readings taken at each of 2 or more visits after initial screening

There are two types of high blood pressure

Primary (essential) hypertension

In 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases in adults, there’s no identifiable cause. This type of high blood pressure, called essential hypertension or primary hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years.

Secondary hypertension

The other 5 to 10 percent of high blood pressure cases are caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension. Various conditions and medications can lead to secondary hypertension, including:

  • Kidney abnormalities
  • Tumours of the adrenal gland
  • Certain congenital heart defects
  • Certain medications, such as birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain relievers and some prescription drugs
  • Illegal drugs, such as cocaine and amphetamines

A single elevated blood pressure reading in the doctor’s office can be misleading because the elevation may be only temporary. It may be caused by a patient’s anxiety related to the stress of the examination and fear that something will be wrong with their health. One out of four people that are thought to have mild hypertension actually may have normal blood pressure when they are outside the Doctor’s office. An increase in blood pressure noted only in the doctor’s office is called ‘white coat hypertension.’

Monitoring your Bp either at home or at the Doctor’s can identify this condition.

High blood pressure has many risk factors. Some you can’t control. High blood pressure risk factors include:

Age

The risk of high blood pressure increases as you age. Through early middle age, high blood pressure is more common in men. Women are more likely to develop high blood pressure after menopause.

Family history

High blood pressure tends to run in families.

Other risk factors for high blood pressure are within your control

Being overweight or obese

The more you weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your artery walls.

Not being physically active

People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction — and the stronger the force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight.

Using tobacco

Not only does smoking tobacco immediately raise your blood pressure temporarily, but also the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls. This can cause your arteries to narrow, increasing your blood pressure.

Too much salt (sodium) in your diet

Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure.

Too little potassium in your diet

Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your cells. If you don’t consume or retain enough potassium, you may accumulate too much sodium in your blood.

Too little vitamin D in your diet

It’s uncertain if having too little vitamin D in your diet can lead to high blood pressure. Researchers think vitamin D may affect an enzyme produced by your kidneys that affects your blood pressure. More studies are necessary to determine vitamin D’s role in blood pressure.

Drinking too much alcohol

Over time, heavy drinking can damage your heart. Having more than two or three drinks in a sitting can also temporarily raise your blood pressure, as it may cause your body to release hormones that increase your blood flow and heart rate.

Stress

High levels of stress can lead to a temporary, but dramatic, increase in blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol, you may only increase problems with high blood pressure.

Certain chronic conditions

Certain chronic conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea.

Sometimes pregnancy contributes to high blood pressure, as well.

Your doctor will be able to discuss the various medical interventions to maintain Blood Pressure, however there are a few natural remedies that can be beneficial. Talk to your doctor before adding any of these supplements to your blood pressure treatment. Some supplements can interact with medications.

Natural Remedies For High Blood Pressure

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

There is some evidence that the supplement CoQ10 may help to reduce high blood pressure.

A 12 week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 83 people with systolic hypertension examined the effect of CoQ10 supplements (60 mg twice daily). After the 12 weeks, there was a mean reduction in systolic blood pressure of 17.8 mm Hg in the Coq10-treated group. 
Another study conducted at the University of Western Australia looked at the effect of CoQ10 on blood pressure and glycemic control in 74 people with type 2 diabetes. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 100mg CoQ10 twice daily, 200mg of the drug fenfibrate, both, or neither for 12 weeks.

CoQ10 significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mean reduction 6.1 mm Hg and 2.9 mm Hg respectively). There was also a reduction in HbA1C, a marker for long-term glycemic control.

Pycnogenol

Pycnogenol is a powerful plant antioxidant, derived from maritime pine. Pycnogenol is also thought to help prevent the damage high blood pressure causes to the heart. A recent study on Pycnogenol shows that people with high blood pressure who took 100 mg of Pycnogenol over a 12 week basis, were able to lower their daily dose of blood pressure-lowering medications by more than 30% while still keeping their blood pressure within normal levels. Researchers say the blood pressure-lowering effects of Pycnogenol appeared to be caused by the antioxidants effect on the innermost layer of arterial blood vessels that expands and contracts in response to blood flow. Please note that any attempt to reduce your blood pressure medication should be done only under medical supervision.

Garlic

Trials showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and four in diastolic blood pressure. Researchers concluded that garlic powder supplement may be of clinical use in patients with mild high blood pressure. Garlic supplements should only be used under the supervision of a qualified health practitioner. Garlic can thin the blood (reduce the ability of blood to clot) similar to aspirin. Garlic may interact with many drugs and supplements such as the prescription “blood-thinners” drugs such as Coumadin (warfarin) or Trental (pentoxifylline), aspirin, vitamin E, gingko.

Hawthorn

The herb hawthorn is often used by traditional herbal practitioners for high blood pressure.

In a randomized controlled trial conducted by researchers in Reading, UK, 79 patients with type 2 diabetes were randomized to receive either 1200 mg of hawthorn extract a day or placebo for 16 weeks. Medication for high blood pressure was used by 71% of the patients.

At the end of the 16 weeks, patients taking the hawthorn supplement had a significant reduction in mean diastolic blood pressure (2.6 mm Hg). No herb-drug interactions were reported.

Fish Oil

Preliminary studies suggest that fish oil may have a modest effect on high blood pressure. Although fish oil supplements often contain both DHA (docohexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), there is some evidence that DHA is the ingredient that lowers high blood pressure.

Folic Acid

Folate is a B vitamin necessary for formation of red blood cells. It may help to lower high blood pressure in some people, possibly by reducing elevated homocysteine levels.

One small study of 24 cigarette smokers found that four weeks of folic acid supplementation significantly lowered blood pressure.

Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium

Calcium. Calcium supplementation appears to have a modest but statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (mean difference of 2.5 mm Hg), however better quality studies are needed.

Potassium. A meta-analysis of five trials indicated that potassium supplementation compared to a control resulted in a large but statistically non-significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (mean difference 11.2 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (5.0 mm hg).

Magnesium. In 12 randomized controlled trials, participants receiving magnesium supplements did not have a significantly reduction in systolic blood pressure, but they did have a statistically significantly reduction in diastolic blood pressure (mean difference 2.2 mm Hg).

Mind-Body Interventions

Stress is a significant risk factor for hypertension. Mind-body interventions, particularly autogenic training, biofeedback, and yoga, have been found to modestly reduce high blood pressure compared with placebo.

Diet

Changing your diet is an important part of lowering high blood pressure. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The DASH Diet includes fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, beans and nuts. Sodium is limited to 2,400 mg per day.