Hypertension - the Silent Killer
Article published in Engineers Australia Magazine March 2006
The worse part about hypertension or high blood pressure, is that you may have the condition but you wouldn’t know it. Unlike many other medical conditions, hypertension generally has no symptoms and people who have hypertension feel OK. They might be a little overweight, not exercise enough, eat too much salty food, drink heavily, smoke or have a poor diet, but other than that are fairly normal.
In Australia around 30% of the population suffers from hypertension although the risk of hypertension increases significantly with age. 60% of the Australian population aged 55 – 75 have the condition with a staggering 78% of the over 75s with high blood pressure. The worse part is, at least half of the people with hypertension either don’t know they have the condition or choose not to treat it.
If you imagine running a machine with the oil pressure too high, you would expect to see problems; hoses bursting, seals leaking, damaged oil filters and excessive wear on the oil pump and valves. Although the machine will appear to work properly for a while, only a fool would ignore the high oil pressure warning light!
Just like the machine, the body can cope with high blood pressure for several years, however having high blood pressure significantly increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, kidney disease and ultimately death. In fact, according to the World Health Organisation, high blood pressure is responsible for 1 in every 8 deaths worldwide making it the third leading killer in the world.
The good news is that in many cases hypertension can be treated by making lifestyle changes and through the use of medication and/or natural supplements.
Hypertension is very easy to diagnose by a doctor, nurse or other health care professional. A blood pressure test is painless, takes only a few minutes and is completely safe. If you are male over 55 or female over 65, overweight, have a family history of high blood pressure, don’t exercise enough, smoke, have high cholestorel or eat poorly then you should have your blood pressure checked regularly. Engineers in particular tend to fall into this demographic as many have stressful desk jobs, work long hours, don’t exercise regularly and don’t pay enough attention to their diet.
Your health care professional will most like make a diagnosis after several blood pressure tests or may monitor your blood pressure over a 24 hour period using an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring device. Depending upon the severity of the condition, your health care professional may prescribe medication, natural supplements, dietary and lifestyle changes.
One of the best ways to naturally reduce high blood pressure is to lose weight. According to the Heart Foundation, “weight reduction by as little as 5kg reduces blood pressure in most individuals who are more than 10% over ideal weight”. It is not hard to lose 5 kg; simply eat more vegetables and fruits, introduce legumes (beans and peas) into your diet, choose lean meat, poultry and fish instead of fattier cuts of meat, grill rather than pan fry your meat and reduce the consumption of sweets, bread, pasta, potatoes, corn and alcohol.
If you are a smoker, remember this number – 13 78 48 or website www.quit.org.au
That is the national Quit line where you can receive assistance to stop smoking. According to the Heart Foundation quitting is “the single most important lifestyle modification in all patients with hypertension”. Even if you don’t have hypertension (yet), quitting can dramatically reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Other ways to reduce high blood pressure include increasing exercise, reducing your salt intake and reducing alcohol consumption. If you are significantly overweight or not feeling well, you should see your doctor or health professional before embarking on a health program or work with a qualified personal trainer as too much of the wrong exercise can also be harmful.
If medication is required, you doctor is likely to prescribe one or more types of drugs each of which work in different ways to normalise blood pressure. ACE inhibitors and antagonists work by blocking the production or effect of a hormone (angiotensin II) that is responsible for raising blood pressure. Diuretics help reduce blood volume which in turn helps reduce blood pressure, other classes of drugs help reduce nervous stimulation or directly relax blood vessels, making them wider which in turn reduces the pressure.
Since the blood vessels and heart is essentially a closed system, the principles of fluid mechanics apply; to reduce pressure widen the pipes, reduce the fluid velocity or reduce fluid volume.
Whilst these medications often reduce blood pressure, like any medication they are not always effective and have side effects. For this reason, your doctor may need to try several different types of medications in order to stabilise the blood pressure whilst minimising side effects.
If your blood pressure is not too high and your doctor and naturopath are agreeable, you may wish to try natural medicines. Although the herbal medicines are generally not as quick acting as drugs and in some cases may not be as effective, they do have fewer side effects. Even though natural medicines are readily available at health food shops and even supermarkets, if you are currently taking any blood pressure medications you should consult with your doctor or a qualified naturopath before taking any natural medicines. You will also need to have your blood pressure regularly monitored to ensure that the natural medicines are appropriate and effective.
Although some in the scientific community will disagree, stress also contributes to high blood pressure. If you have a stressful job with a lot of responsibility (ie. an engineer) and you don’t have a stress relief mechanism, you are like a pressure vessel without a release valve!
Make sure that you take time out from your work to relax, exercise or otherwise release that stress. Some of the techniques that I suggest to clients include buying a punching bag and letting out the day’s frustrations, taking up an enjoyable hobby, going for walks (without your mobile or stopwatch) joining yoga, ti-chi or meditation classes, taking up marshal arts and having regular massages.
Hypertension can be a killer but it need not be. Regular blood pressure tests, maintaining a healthy weight and diet, quitting smoking and having a stress relief mechanism can significantly reduce the risk of high blood pressure and improve the quality of your life.
Good news! David has considerable success treating patients for hypertension using herbs, kinesiology, dietary and lifestyle changes. Some clients were even able to avoid blood pressure medication (and associated side effects) altogether. Call David on 03 9017 5555 to find out more.