Believe it or not, a lot of people have high blood pressure but they don’t get their blood pressure checked because they feel alright.
“Having your blood pressure taken may be one of the easiest things you can do to live longer,” a doctor said to his patient, Janet, inside the exam room. He then proceeded to tell her that having her blood pressure checked on a regular basis facilitates timely treatment and control of hypertension.
Over 65 million Americans and approximately a billion people across the globe have hypertension. And sadly, they walk around like ticking time bombs, and don’t even know that they have high blood pressure! Even those who have the means to seek treatment and have access to modern healthcare services fail to do so because they forget to have their blood pressure checked.
What is high blood pressure and what does it feel like?
To put it quite simply, high blood pressure happens when your arteries are clogged, providing resistance each time the heart pumps blood to your blood for distribution to different parts of the body. Resistance in your blood vessels will increase your blood pressure. And when this happens and remain uncontrolled with medicine and lifestyle changes, complications like heart disease and kidney problems.
You may have high blood pressure but still feel good. Hypertension is often silent and oftentimes, patients report dizziness or the usual headache. The ceiling of the normal range for blood pressure is 140/90 and a lot of people have blood pressures way more than that even after a doctor’s visit. Why? They neglect to follow the prescribed treatment protocol and continue with their diet of salty and processed foods. Stress is also a contributing factor.
The good news for people with elevated blood pressures, according to Janet’s doctor, is that it can be lowered effectively with the help of antihypertensive medicines, exercise, and a healthy diet. ‘The most important things to remember here is that there are things that can be done to normalize blood pressure but these are only possible if people know they have hypertension. This is the reason why you should have your blood pressure checked even if you feel absolutely fine. ” the doctor said.
