High blood pressure can be a complicated condition which may lead to unwanted health risks if left unhealed. For our health’s safety, let me help you learn about healing high blood pressure.
So, how to heal high blood pressure? Check these 18 tips that can help you heal high blood pressure, some are natural ways and some need medical assistance.
- Lose weight
- Being overweight can be the cause of high blood pressure or end up worsening it. By losing weight, you can heal high blood pressure.
- Avoid salty foods
- Sodium can make high blood pressure worse. Most people have “salt-sensitivity” wherein their body is unable to properly process the salt and make high blood pressure worse.
- Increase potassium intake
- Potassium helps the body get rid of salt and lessen high blood pressure. Balance your diet properly. Foods such as banana are rich in potassium.
- Consider the diuretics therapy
- Diuretics therapy is one of the most common methods that can help heal high blood pressure. It will increase the amount of water and salt expelled from the body through urination.
- Reduce alcohol consumption
- Just like other conditions here, alcohol can worsen high blood pressure regardless of the amount you take. However, it will be best to avoid drinking at all.
- Walk and exercise regularly
- Exercising regularly will help heal high blood pressure and also improve the heart’s health.
- Lessen caffeine consumption
- Caffeine can cause a short-term spike in blood pressure which can trigger or worsen high blood pressure. Some people may react differently, but it’s still best to be safe than sorry.
- Stay hydrated, drink more water
- Drinking lots of water can help lower your blood pressure levels naturally by removing sodium in your body. Sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure.
- Try to avoid getting stressed
- Stress is one of the major factors that contribute to high blood pressure. Manage your stress levels properly, if it can be avoided, avoid it.
- Eat small amounts of cocoa
- Dark chocolate or cocoa actually contains compounds that help ease blood vessels and lessens high blood pressure as a result.
- Reduce or quit smoking
- Smoking can increase the risk of a heart disease which can end up worsening high blood pressure as a result.
- Avoid added sugar or carbs
- Refined carbs or sugar can increase high blood pressure.
- Start trying to meditate
- Taking deep breaths and meditating can help your body relax and get the right amount of air your body needs to help heal high blood pressure
- Eat berries and other fruits
- There are a lot of vitamins and healthy nutrition berries and real fruits can provide that can help heal high blood pressure.
- One example is lemon, lemon helps heal high blood pressure and prevent heart failure.
- Consume food rich in calcium
- Dairy products are an example of food rich in calcium which can help maintain healthy blood pressure. Dairy products such as egg and milk can help high blood pressure.
- Increase food rich in magnesium
- Magnesium helps regulate blood pressure by making the blood vessels relax, bettering high blood pressure.
- Take natural supplements
- There are different kinds of natural supplements that have the ability to regulate high blood pressure.
- Use drug medications
- Medicines such as beta-blockers are made specifically for the purpose of healing high blood pressure. Different medicines exist depending on the patient’s overall health condition.
- There are different kinds of medications, consult your doctor for the right prescription.
Try a combination of the treatments for better results. Don’t just focus on one step at a time when it comes to healing high blood pressure.
You might be recommended by your doctor to follow more than one of the following treatments here.
Now that you know about these tips, the next step is learning about the risks. What happens if you don’t heal high blood pressure? What causes it in the first place? Read on to learn more about it!
Why you need to heal high blood pressure
There are many reasons why you really need to heal high blood pressure. Check these following risks that might happen if high blood pressure is left unhealed. You will be prone to these threatening conditions.
- Heart failure
- High blood pressure patients are prone to heart failure and this may lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death
- Heart attack
- Can also be severely life-threatening
- Irregular heartbeat
- Worsens the ability to breathe
- Can trigger anxiety or death
- Can lead to other heart diseases
- Stroke
- Can leave permanent damage
- May lead to paralysis
- Can cause death
- Depression
- Not an easy condition to treat
- Can lead to self-harming
- Diabetes
- Leaves you prone to more heart attacks
- Increases ADHD
- If your high blood pressure is causing sleep apnea, it will reduce your ability to focus which is what happens when you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Having a lack of control to focus can lead to frustration and risk of other danger
- Headaches
- You may wake up with a bad headache which will lead to other problems listed here
- Can lead to brain problems
- Lack of daily energy
- As mentioned, your energy will be reduced since you are unable to sleep well.
- Seizures
- Patients with high blood pressure are prone to sleep apnea and sleep apnea patients are prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients.
These conditions are definitely life-threatening so it must be healed as soon as possible. Even if it can’t be healed permanently, we should at least try to avoid it or lessen the risks too.
What causes high blood pressure
As of today, the main cause of high blood pressure is not yet known. However, there are known risk factors and existing conditions that may have ties with high blood pressure such as the Chronic Kidney Disease.
- Age
- High blood pressure is more common in people aged over 60 years. With age, blood pressure can increase steadily as the arteries become stiffer and narrower due to plaque build-up.
- Ethnicity
- Some ethnic groups are more prone to high blood pressure.
- Size and weight
- Being overweight or obese is a key risk factor for high blood pressure.
- Alcohol and tobacco use
- Consuming large amounts of alcohol regularly can increase a person’s blood pressure, the same as smoking tobacco.
- Sex
- The lifetime risk is the same for males and females, but men are more prone to high blood pressure at a younger age. The prevalence only tends to be higher in older women.
- Existing health conditions
- Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, high cholesterol levels, and sleep apnea can lead to hypertension, especially as people get older.
- Lack of physical activities
- The lack of physical activities can lead to high blood pressure, so make sure to exercise regularly.
- Eating too much salt contained food
- Salty and fatty foods are one of the biggest contributing factors to high blood pressure.
- Insufficient potassium in your diet
- The lack of potassium in your body makes you unable to get rid of the salt that you consume, leaving you more prone to high blood pressure.
- Family history or hereditary hypertension
- Studies show that high blood pressure can be hereditary. If your family has a history of hypertension, you can be prone to it as well.
- Overwhelming or poorly managed stress levels
- Exposing one’s self to extreme stress or being unable to manage the stress will leave you more prone to high blood pressure.
High blood pressure can have different causes depending on the person and their lifestyle which is why it is important to get properly checked by a professional instead of just relying on the signs that you notice.
Related Questions
Can CPAP help high blood pressure?
Yes, CPAP machine treatment has been observed to help lower blood pressure levels. In this case, sleep apnea patients are prone to high blood pressure or vice versa. CPAP can help both conditions.
Can sleep apnea cause high blood pressure?
Yes, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure.
When we experience difficulty in breathing because of obstructive sleep apnea, the blood oxygen levels will suddenly drop and increases blood pressure.
Basically, when there is an obstruction in the airways, our body cannot breathe properly and this means the air cannot circulate properly into our system.
Since there will be insufficient oxygen, blood pressure will continue to increase instead.
Can sleep apnea cause diabetes?
Yes, sleep apnea can cause diabetes.
Sleep apnea is a result of difficult breathing and may lead to sleep deprivation. When we are sleep deprived, our body is unable to make insulin work which causes diabetes.
Insulin is necessary to allow glucose to enter our cells but when we have sleep apnea and we don’t get enough sleep, insulin activities will stop beyond our control.
Our body will also produce more hormones called “ghrelin” and it’s the hormones which make us want to eat. This means the more ghrelin we get due to lack of sleep, the more we will eat.
Eating more while having a lack of glucose control will also lead to diabetes.
