By 
Blood pressure problems are prevalent in the elderly but can easily be Improved through regular exercise. Alex from TrustedCare, explains and shares her thoughts on improving your Blood Pressure.
BP explained
Blood pressure is the force pressing against the walls of the blood vessels or arteries. There are two numbers when it comes to the blood pressure measurement. The top number is the systolic pressure, which is measured when the heart beats or contracts pushing blood out of the heart and into your system of arteries , and the bottom one is the diastolic pressure, which is measured when the heart relaxes or between beats.
Normal BP is in a range around 120/80, which means that the systolic number is 120 and the diastolic pressure is 80.
High blood pressure-called hypertension- is caused when a higher force is exerted on artery walls as blood passes through carrying the oxygen and nutrients that your cells need. Systolic reading of higher or equal to 140mmHg is considered as hypertension. HBP (high blood pressure) makes the heart work harder therefore improved blood pressure is a huge benefit. The organs in your body must have oxygen to thrive. Oxygen is carried throughout the body by way of blood.
Over a period of time HBP will begin to damage the blood vessels as well as the heart. It is known there are many factors that contribute to HBP: smoking, lack of exercise, salt intake, excessive alcohol, stress, age, genetics, kidney disease, thyroid disorder and being overweight.
Weakened arteries puts you at risk of developing an aneurysm. If the artery becomes stiff or thick, the blood flow is decreased to the brain, heart, kidneys, arms and legs. Massive damage can cause heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, angina, diabetes, kidney failure, dementia, peripheral arterial disease, and eye damage. Other health problems include difficulty sleeping and sexual dysfunction.
That’s the bad news and now for the good news.
Exercise can be a natural treatment for HBP. Getting the heart rate up and doing something physical can be very beneficial for many things including reducing stress and reducing blood pressure. Baby Boomers Advisor stresses that with 10,000 baby boomers turning age 65 each day, exercise is of paramount importance to our health.
It is proven that exercising will lower someone’s systolic blood pressure if it is high. When you do physical exercise, you will have a healthier supply of blood to your cells, arteries and heart’s muscle tissue so they will get more oxygen and nutrients. As an addition, it will increase HDL (good cholesterol) and reduce LDL (bad cholesterol). By providing your body with the nutrients it needs through exercise, you will benefit by improved blood pressure.
Here are some symptoms which may frequently recur, enough to suspect that your blood pressure is beginning to mount:
– Headaches, feeling depressed without particular reason and always tense – the increase in the adrenal gland called adrenal medulla results to the elevation of BP.
– Ringing sound in the ears – occurs when thousands of tiny auditory hair are damaged causing total or partial hearing loss.
– Dizziness – there will be a sudden shift from low blood pressure to high BP particularly when rising up in the morning after a midnight sleep.
– Sudden nosebleeds – here the blood pressure has reached 180 (systolic)/110 (diastolic) mm Hg causing rupture in the tiny blood vessels of the nose.
– Blurred vision – occurs when the pressure is causing damage to the tiny blood vessels supplying blood to the eyes; there is build-up of fluid underneath the retina, causing damage to the optic nerves.
If you experience any of these symptoms, do not hesitate to go to the doctor for proper medical evaluation. As the years go by, these indications are the accumulation of being a type A hypertensive person. Contributing factors are stress, poor nutrition, lack of fitness, heredity, and overload of insulin, excess salt resulting to sodium-potassium imbalance, dietary fat surplus, and alcohol.
Comments