There are two pressures that are measured when your doctor checks your blood pressure. The systolic pressure is the measurement of the force on the blood vessel walls when the heart is contracting. Diastolic pressure is the amount of pressure when the heart is in the relaxed state between beats. These are measured in millimeters of mercury or mmHg for short.
A Normal blood pressure, they say, is a systolic pressure of less than 120 and a diastolic pressure of less than 80.
Then you get into a condition called prehypertension, and yes they have numbers for that, too. A systolic pressure between 120-139 and/or a diastolic of 80-89.
Stage 1 hypertension is a systolic of 140-159 and/or a diastolic of 90-99.
Stage 2 hypertension is a systolic of 160-179 and/or a diastolic of 100-109.
Stage 3, or severe hypertension is considered a systolic pressure greater than or equal to 180 and/or a diastolic greater than or equal to 110.
Take note of the “and/or” in those claims. You go to your doctor for a checkup, and if you’re like most people you may have a case of “white coat syndrome” where just being in a doctor’s office makes your blood pressure rise. The tension of having an appointment at 11:30 in the morning and arriving at the office at 11:00 - just in case he or she may be running on time, is a stress. But now it’s 12:48 and you’ve missed lunch and if you’re anything like me, getting a little cranky by now.
The nurse finally calls you back to a room where you sit for another twenty-eight minutes until the doctor strolls in with your chart. The tension rises again because you just know he’s going to find something wrong with you. And sure enough, your blood pressure reading is 142/80. Even though your diastolic pressure is what they would call borderline prehypertensive, your systolic pressure is now in the stage 1 hypertension range. You’ve reached that “and/or” stage.
Most doctors today will immediately take out the old prescription pad and send you off to the drug store with paper in hand, and most people will politely go along with this foolishness. After all, Doctor knows best.
Blood pressure changes constantly throughout the day with the stresses and tensions of your everyday life. One blood pressure reading of 142/80 does not make you a candidate for a chemical drug that may cause you more harm than your 142/80 pressure. You certainly DO NOT have a Vasotec or Lotensin deficiency, as these are man made drugs and don’t belong in your body in the first place.
A better place to start in controlling you blood pressure would be a change of lifestyle. If you drink coffee, tea, soda or any other caffeinated beverages - stop them, or at least make a drastic cutback. Caffeine can raise your blood pressure dramatically. Also you should cut your intake of table salt. Regular table salt is good for no one.
Hawthorn berry is a natural vasodilator, meaning it can relax the veins enough to lower the resistance to blood flow. Parsley leaf can improve blood flow. Garlic has been used to deal with high cholesterol, but has been proven to reduce high blood pressure. Capsicum pepper can be purchased in capsules and is great for the heart and circulatory system. Capsicum is loaded with calcium, magnesium and potassium and in today’s world most people are lacking in theses nutrients. If you don’t want to go the pepper route, you can find a good calcium, magnesium, potassium supplement.
A thing to know about supplements though - cheap is not always better. Sure you can go to your local Wal-Mart or grocery store and buy a 100 count bottle of some supplement for very little money, but most of the cheap well know supplements aren’t very well processed by the human body. Do some research on the companies before you buy.
And yes, Emily, the fishtank and yoga are great ways to reduce blood pressure. Slow-deep-even breathing, meditation, even petting your dog or cat can do wonders to reduce stress. Drinking plenty of water can also reduce blood pressure to a degree.
Frank