Blood Pressure - What Are You Doing About Yours

The medical term for high blood pressure is 'hypertension'. As a general rule, you're considered to be 'hypertensive' if your blood pressure is consistently above the ideal 120/80. Some people are genetically predisposed for having high blood pressure, but there are other factors that often contribute to it, regardless of your genes.

To help you better understand high blood pressure, it's a good idea to know what hypertension really is. When your blood pressure is taken, what's actually being measured is the amount of pressure your blood is exerting against the walls of your blood vessels. Of course the higher the number, the more pressure is being forced against those walls.

Think of a balloon as it is being filled with water. You will see that the balloon stretches as more and more water is being put into it. As you continue to fill the balloon, you can see that the balloon is thinning out, and eventually stretch itself to the breaking point.

Same is true with your blood vessels. They can and will burst if you let your blood pressure get too high and remain there unchecked. Where the vessel bursts will determine the severity of the results. Vessels bursting in the brain will make you suffer a stroke. Vessels in the heart will make you suffer a heart attack or suffer complete heart failure.

High blood pressure is often called the 'silent killer' because of this. You don't feel any symptoms at all and you feel finethen the pressure becomes so great and it causes a life-threatening episode.

The top number of a blood pressure reading, or the systolic pressure, measures the pressure within the blood vessels with each 'beat' of the heart as it pumps blood out. The bottom number, or the diastolic pressure, measures the pressure within the blood vessels in between beats, when your heart is temporarily at rest.

Of the two numbers, the bottom number is often seen as more critical. If your diastolic pressure is over the ideal number of 80, this means that extreme pressure is being exerted on your vessels, even when your heart is at rest. With high blood pressure, the spurting force of the blood as it leaves the heart the next time could be the one that proves to be too much.

So what can you do to lower your blood pressure? For starters, if you're overweight, get serious about taking off the extra pounds. Try to alleviate, if not eliminate, causes of stress in your life. Stop smoking and exercise more.

Or try something a little easier, just as effective and even quicker, my Hypertension Program I created to help reduce your chance of heart attack or stroke by lowering your blood pressure to acceptable levels. It doesn't involve drastic lifestyle changes or hours of sweating in a gym.

It's a series of easy, simple exercises which only take a few minutes a day and which you can do with little effort. The impact it will have on your blood pressure numbers is nothing short of life-saving.