Virtually everyone knows that high blood pressure can be a serious health issue. But many people underestimate their own risk level for this chronic disease. Many residents of Houston, Texas, and beyond rely on the experienced providers at Renal Clinic of Houston for professional hypertension care.
If you’re under the impression that a lack of noticeable health problems means you don’t have to monitor your blood pressure, the team at Renal Clinic of Houston in Katy, Memorial City, and Cypress, Texas, hopes the following information helps.
Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the degree of pressure placed on your arterial walls during heartbeats (systolic) and during the pause in between heartbeats (diastolic).
Elevated blood pressure can result from a number of different things. Many medical conditions can cause blood pressure to rise above normal. When this happens, it’s called secondary hypertension.
Essential hypertension, also called primary hypertension, is the term for high blood pressure that occurs in the absence of any contributing medical condition. This form of high blood pressure doesn’t have a single, clear cause.
When your blood pressure can’t be directly tied to another health problem, medication, or treatment, it isn’t always possible to identify the precise cause. Researchers believe that some cases of essential hypertension have a genetic component, meaning you might be predisposed to developing high blood pressure. Older people also have a higher risk of hypertension.
It’s also clear that lifestyle factors can cause essential hypertension. A poor diet and a lack of physical activity are significant causes of high blood pressure. Even things like poor sleep and alcohol use can increase your risk level.
If you learn you have high blood pressure, it’s normal to feel anxiety about your overall health. After all, high blood pressure is often referred to as a “silent killer” because many people don’t know they have the condition until a serious health complication arises.
But finding out you have hypertension means you have a chance to bring your readings back under control. You can take action to lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk of serious health outcomes.
There are many different medications that can help control your blood pressure. It might take a period of trial and error to find the right drug therapy for your needs, and a combination of medications is sometimes the best fit.
Making meaningful changes to your daily habits can also go a long way toward getting closer to healthy blood pressure readings. Consider adding more fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats to your daily diet, and take steps to limit highly processed foods.
Find enjoyable ways to get more exercise into each day. You don’t need to jump into a rigorous training program or hire a personal trainer to see results. Something as simple as adding a daily walk can yield impressive improvements.
If you’d like to learn more about managing high blood pressure, reach out to the Renal Clinic of Houston team to set up a visit. You can call the office to check availability, or spend a few moments on the easy online booking page.
