We Know: All About Hypertension and High Blood Pressure

What is high blood pressure?

Normal blood pressure is 120/80 or lower; high blood pressure is anything over 140 for the first number and 90 for the second number. (Blood pressure between 120/80 and 140/90 generally needs to be observed.)

How do you measure high blood pressure?

Blood pressure is measured with a manual or electronic sphygmanometer, which detects the amount of pressure your blood vessels exert at highest (systolic) and lowest (diastolic) pressure.

What causes high blood pressure?

In some cases, there is no known cause of high blood pressure; this is called essential or primary hypertension, and generally must be treated with medication. In most cases, though, hypertension is caused by one or a combination of the following:

Obesity, the number one cause
Kidney problems
Hormonal imbalances
Heart and artery abnormalities
Lack of exercise
Drinking or taking certain drugs, including most illegal ones
Steroids, whether prescribed or illegal
Birth control pills
Complications from other illnesses, such as asthma

Generally, two or more of these causes combine in hypertension sufferers.

What are the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure?

The only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure measured. There are usually no signs or symptoms.

What can you do to reduce or cure high blood pressure?

Treating hypertension usually involves making major changes in the way you live, particularly in diet and exercise.

Reduce your intake of fats, caffeine, alcohol, and salt (especially watch out for frozen TV dinners, processed meats, and canned foods!)
Stop smoking right now.
Begin some sort of regular cardiovascular exercise, like walking at least a half hour, three times a week.
Diet and get your weight to a healthy level
Decrease your stress level; stress causes high blood pressure, too
Check your blood pressure regularly, and keep records

You should not, however, start a strenuous exercise program; rather, you should build up to one while following your doctor's advice. In particular, you should avoid weightlifting and bodybuilding exercises.

Can medications are commonly prescribed for high blood pressure?

Below are the types of medicines used to treat high blood pressure:

Diuretics are sometimes called "water pills." They work by helping your kidneys flush excess water and salt from your body. This reduces the amount of fluid in your blood, and your blood pressure goes down.
Beta blockers help your heart beat slower and with less force. Your heart pumps less blood through the blood vessels, and your blood pressure goes down.
Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors keep your body from making a hormone called angiotensin II, which normally causes blood vessels to narrow. ACE inhibitors prevents this narrowing so your blood pressure goes down.
Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBS) are newer blood pressure drugs that protect your blood vessels from angiotensin II. As a result, the blood vessels relax and become wider, and your blood pressure goes down.
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) keep calcium from entering the muscle cells of your heart and blood vessels. This causes blood vessels to relax, and your blood pressure goes down.
Alpha blockers reduce nerve impulses that tighten blood vessels, allowing blood to pass more easily and causing blood pressure to go down.
Alpha-beta blockers reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels the same way alpha blockers do, but they also slow the heartbeat, as beta blockers do. As a result, blood pressure goes down.
Nervous system inhibitors relax blood vessels by controlling nerve impulses from the brain. This causes blood vessels to become wider and blood pressure to go down.

Vasodilators open blood vessels by directly relaxing the muscle in the vessel walls, causing blood pressure to go down.

It is important that you take your blood pressure medication the same time each day.

What medications should I avoid if I have high blood pressure?

There are medications you should avoid if you have high blood pressure, including the following over-the-counter drugs:

Anything containing pseudoephedrine -- this is found in many decongestants, cold medicines, and flu medicines. Also watch for oxymetazoline, phenylephrine, and phenylpropanolamine (PPA) in decongestants; these are all bad for your blood pressure, even if delivered in a nasal spray.
NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) -- this includes aspirin, naproxen, meloxicam, and ibuprofen. If you need something for pain or inflammation, you should speak with your doctor.
Acetaminophen in high, long-term doses
Herbal supplements - just because something's natural doesn't mean it's safe. Poison ivy, snake venom, and hemlock are natural too! A few herbal supplements that have been shown to increase blood pressure include citrus aurantium, ginkgo, ginseng, licorice, and St. John's Wort. Speak to your doctor before you take any herbal supplement.
Stay-awake drugs like NoDoze; they almost always contain high doses of caffeine or pseudoephedrine, and sometimes ephedra.
Illegal drugs of all kinds can increase your blood pressure. Though it's illegal, ephedra is still an ingredient in diet pills and in stay-awake drugs.