What is high blood pressure?
Hypertension increases the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and kidney disease, usually without symptoms but with serious consequences.
When a doctor or nurse reports blood pressure, they say 2 numbers, such as "130/80," which represent the intraarterial pressure during contraction and relaxation.
"Elevated blood pressure" is a cautionary term that does not mean high blood pressure, but that blood pressure is higher than the ideal range of health.
Many experts define hypertension, elevated blood pressure, and normal blood pressure as follows:
●Hypertension – Systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mmHg and/or diastolic ≥ 80 mmHg
●Elevated blood pressure – Systolic blood pressure is 120-129 mmHg and diastolic ≤ 79 mmHg
●Normal blood pressure – Systolic blood pressure ≤ 119 mmHg and diastolic ≤ 79 mmHg.
So what are the causes of high blood pressure in young people?
1. Genetic factors.
Such people have a familial history of hypertension, often developing hypertension at a very young age, and often have patients with hypertension in their immediate family.
2. High-salt diet.
The harms of a high-salt diet include
Excessive salt intake can lead to an increase in the osmolality of crystals in the blood, and water from the surrounding tissues will enter the blood vessels, resulting in an increase in blood composition and increased pressure.
Excessive salt intake also activates the renin aldosterone angiotensin system, causing vasoconstriction and elevated blood pressure.
For adults in our country, the daily intake of salt is as high as 14 grams, while the normal recommendation is 6 grams.
3. Physical obesity.
Sedentary living habits, big fish and big meat eating habits, easy to cause obesity, and many obese friends have high blood pressure, high blood lipids, high blood sugar, arteriosclerosis and other diseases.
4. Bad habits.
Both habits of smoking and drinking alcohol can lead to an increase in heart rate and increased vascular resistance, which can lead to an increase in blood pressure.
5. Stay up late for a long time and lack of sleep.
The long-term response of mobile phones, televisions and computers should lead to lack of sleep in many people, which directly leads to endocrine disorders and increased blood pressure.
6. Negative emotions.
Due to the accelerated pace of modern life, being in a state of tension, anxiety, and even depression for a long time can lead to endocrine abnormalities and increase blood pressure.
What adjustments do I need to make in my life?
1. Healthy eating.
Friends with high blood pressure need to strictly control the intake of salt, no more than 6 grams per day.
To limit the intake of high-calorie and high-fat foods, appropriately increase the intake of whole grains, vegetables and fruits in the diet.
Healthy eating habits can not only slow down the development of arteriosclerosis, but also reduce weight and achieve the purpose of controlling blood pressure.
2. Weight control.
Obesity is a common risk factor for high blood pressure, and for young and middle-aged friends with high blood pressure, maintaining weight at normal levels is an important part of controlling blood pressure.
3. Reasonable exercise.
In addition to the direct antihypertensive effect, exercise can also reduce body weight, improve the balance of water and electrolytes in the body, relieve mental tension and other aspects to have an indirect impact on blood pressure.
4. Quit smoking and alcohol.
As mentioned earlier, smoking and alcohol cessation is still necessary to control blood pressure.
5. Get enough sleep.
Adequate sleep is necessary to stabilize blood pressure and stabilize the endocrine system, and can also relieve tension to a certain extent. Blood pressure is naturally well controlled.
6. Maintain a healthy and upward mentality.
Bad emotions such as nervousness, anxiety, depression, etc. can all affect blood pressure. Therefore, maintaining an optimistic and upward attitude is very important for people's health.