In the area of self help health a popular topic is the understanding of blood pressure and it’s role in your overall health.

Hypertension pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries.It is greatest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is known as systolic pressure, but when your heart is resting in between beats, your blood pressure drops which is reffered to as diastolic pressure.

Unfortunately, as we age our chances suffering from high blood pressure increases. It is one of the most common chronic medical conditions, affecting approximately one in three people, but is not a disease in itself but an aggrevating factor. High blood pressure acts like a catalyst with certain diseases and can make the patients illness worse if left untreated. Individuals who are at most risk are those that are obese, drink alcohol or are over fourty years old. A sedentary lifestyle is also a big factor in fact people who are less active and less physically fit have a 30 to 50 percent greater likelihood of high blood pressure. High blood pressure that isn’t properly controlled may lead to heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, stroke or even premature death.

Many things can affect blood pressure from how much water and salt you have in your body, the health of your kidneys, nervous system, or blood vessels, and hormones. It can affect all groups of people but you have an increased risk of high blood pressure if you have a family history of the complaint, it is also tends to be more common in African Americans than Caucasians, but very often there is no specific cause. In this instance it is called essential hypertension. If a particular condition is present such as a habit, or medication then it is called secondary hypertension.

The insidious thing about high blood pressure is that many individuals who have high blood pressure feel no ill effects and are completely unaware that they have the condition. Only about half of the people in this country who have high blood pressure are aware they have it and of those who know they have it, only about half are being treated for it and of those who are being treated, only half actually have their blood pressure under control. If left undetected this may contribute to a stroke or heart attack in later years. By this stage it is too late to reverse the damage even if the blood pressure treatment is started. Modern lifestyles can lead many people to become overweight and suffer from stress and these two conditions can lead to the onset of high blood pressure or hypertension as it is also referred to.

High blood pressure can be treated with self help medical knowledge it is always best to seek medical advice, and get your blood pressuremonitoredif you think that you may have a problem with your blood pressure. The good news, however, is that there are ways of of lowering blood pressure naturally. A few simple changes in lifestyle can help combat high blood pressure. These include a schedule of moderate exercise and even a diet that contains foods that lower blood pressure.

If your blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg then exercise can stop it from rising as you get older. Physical exercise will make your heart stronger and a stronger heart will work more effectively. In fact by exercising frequently you can lower your blood pressure by 10mm Hg and even low levels of regular exercise should help reduce blood pressure and improve your overall health.

self help fitness regimes that encourage suppleness and strength training exercises are important, what is required is aerobic activity in order to control high blood pressure. But this does not require you to be at the gym every day, just by engaging in moderate exercise in your day to day life will be a good start. Moderate exercise should mean working up a slight sweat and getting slightly out of breath.

Aerobic exercise can be considered to be any physical activity that increases your heart rate and breathing. Aerobic exercise is steady physical activity using large muscle groups. This exercise strengthens the heart and lungs and helps the body’s ability to use oxygen. Over time, aerobic exercise can help reduce your heart rate and blood pressure and improve your breathing. This could include such diverse actions as mowing the lawn, sweeping the drive way, climbing stairs and of course cycling, swimming or just walking. You should consider walking for half an hour every day in order to get the required benefits. But if you can’t manage to set aside even this small amount of time remember that shorter bursts of exercise will help aswell.

If you are new to exercising remember to start slowly in order to reduce the risk of injury. It is a good idea to try some light warm up exercises before you begin your proper exercise regime and cool down afterward. Stretching the arms and legs before and after exercising helps prepare the muscles for useand helps prevent muscle strain. Stretching also increases your range of motion and flexibility. Build up the intensity of your workoutsslowly over time.

If you’d like to try strength training or other resistance exercises, make sure you have your doctor’s agreement.