The Highway to Health - Blood Pressure

Table of Contents

What is... Blood Pressure?

What''s wrong with high blood pressure?
High blood pressure shows doctors what else is happening in your body. Years of experience and research tell doctors that high blood pressure is a sign of other problems including:

    - Angina
    - Heat Attack
    - Heart Failure (it doesn''t work as well as it should)
    - Stroke

If you can reduce your blood pressure, you can reduce the chances of these problems.

What is too high?
Your doctor will normally set a target, depending upon your own medical history, conditions, etc. If you don''t already have a target set, or have not had problems with your blood pressure, then a good guide is 140/100. If you''re regularly getting a reading above this, see your doctor. An ''ideal'' target is 120/80.

Three fast steps to change your Blood Pressure
The good news is that if your blood pressure is too high, you can lower it yourself. No medication and no cost needed (to start with)!

1. Exercise helps to improve your blood pressure. The recommended amount is (at least) 30 min, five days a week. Gentle exercise is fine to start with. Just enough to raise your pulse a little. You don''t have to be a gym-rat to achieve this!

2. Changing your diet can help your blood pressure. If you are overweight, decreasing your weight can help. Changing what, and how much you eat can help too.

3. If you drink alcohol, decreasing the amount you drink will improve your blood pressure.