Blood Pressure is understandably a major concern for many people. I personally, battled it and have spent more hours researching and developing treatment for it than I or my wife (who’s really smart by the way) could ever count.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is usually considered a reading over 140/90. 120/80 to 139/89 is considered pre-hypertension. The top number is called the systolic which is considered high if it is 120 or above.
Why is this important? Two-thirds of people over the age of sixty-five have high blood pressure. Some experts even consider this number conservative. In fact, many people who are age 50 or older, have pre-hypertension.
Left untreated, high blood pressure puts too much strain on the heart which can lead to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. This, in turn, can lead to heart attack or stroke.
In addition to the heart being affected by high blood pressure, high blood pressure can also lead to kidney disease and even blindness.
The systolic reading measures the force of the blood through the arteries as the heart beats. The diastolic pressure (force of the blood in the arteries as the heart “rests”) reading need not be high for one to have high blood pressure when the systolic reading is high. This is known as isolated systolic high blood pressure.
While both readings are important for an accurate diagnosis of high blood pressure, keep in mind that as we age, the diastolic reading tends to go down, therefore, it is especially important to know what one’s systolic pressure is.
To know if you have high blood pressure (systolic or not), you should see your doctor. He or she can perform a quick blood pressure test to let you know.
Keep in mind that you do not have to feel “bad” to have high blood pressure. This is why high blood pressure and heart disease in general is known as the “silent killer.” Oftentimes, by the time a person knows something is wrong, that person is having a heart attack or stroke.
For those of you, who are concerned that your doctor will simply prescribe medicine to lower your blood pressure and you are concerned about the very real and potentially very serious side effects of the medication, express your concerns to your doctor.
That’s not to say that your doctor won’t still prescribe medication. This is a complaint about many Western doctors. It’s not necessarily their fault though.
Their concern is that their patients won’t follow through on advice to lose weight, stop smoking, drink alcohol in moderation only, and follow an exercise and breathing program. Who can blame them? It’s hard for many of us, especially older adults with a lifetime of bad habits to break them.
If your systolic blood pressure reading is high, you know you have high blood pressure or you are pre-hypertensive, I highly recommend my High Blood Pressure program. The response to my all natural program, consisting of breathing and relaxation exercises has been overwhelming! I cured my own high blood pressure using this program (without drug intervention) and it has remained normal ever since.
In fact, I have had hundreds of clients who have been on high blood pressure medication (with those nasty side effects) for years. After starting my program, their blood pressure immediately started to lower and in time, they were able to get off the medication altogether.
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