According to the Report on Cardiovascular Health and Diseases in China 2022, there are about 245 million adults with hypertension in China. Hypertension has long been a common and serious public health problem, posing a serious threat to people’s health.
Hypertension, also called the “silent killer”, is a common cardiovascular disease. It usually has no obvious symptoms, but long-term hypertension can cause serious damage to the heart, brain, kidneys and other organs, and even lead to fatal consequences such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of it are particularly important.
How to control blood pressure? Lin Xiaoming, an expert in Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Hainan Chengmei Hospital, has some tips for you.
How do you judge if someone has hypertension? According to the National Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Hypertension at the Primary Level 2020, hypertension can be diagnosed when the systolic blood pressure is ≥140mmHg (millimeters of mercury) or the diastolic blood pressure is ≥90 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) in three non-consecutive days of measurements without using antihypertensive drugs. If the average blood pressure is ≥135/85 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) after 5-7 consecutive days of standard home monitoring, it may be considered as hypertension, and it is recommended to consult a doctor.
What are the causes of hypertension? Lin Xiaoming explained that there are many causes of it, including poor dietary habits, genes, etc. In daily life, if you drink a lot of alcohol over a long period of time or often eat foods with high sodium, low potassium, and high fat, it may lead to an increase in blood pressure. If dietary management is not strengthened, hypertension will develop over time. It is also hereditary, and that is to say, if parents have hypertension, the chances of their children suffering from hypertension will also increase.
What are the symptoms and harms of hypertension? Lin Xiaoming stated that patients with hypertension may experience symptoms such as dizziness, headache, chest tightness, palpitations, shortness of breath, and fatigue. If hypertension patients do not receive standardized treatment for a long time, leading to continuously elevated blood pressure, it may induce serious complications such as coronary heart disease and cerebral hemorrhage, which can be life-threatening.
How to correctly deal with hypertension? Lin Xiaoming pointed out that it is very important to prevent hypertension for people with a family history of hypertension or high-risk factors. We need to develop good dietary and living habits in our daily lives.
First of all, we should reduce the daily intake of salt because too much salt will induce hypertension and a series of cardiovascular diseases. It is recommended that we control the daily salt intake to within 5 grams. In addition, long-term alcoholism is also a factor that induces high blood pressure, so we should avoid excessive drinking in daily life.
Secondly, it is important to minimize the consumption of high-fat and high-calorie foods. At the same time, we need to develop healthy living habits, including avoiding staying up late, not smoking, exercising regularly, and maintaining a positive mindset.
Middle-aged and elderly individuals should regularly measure their blood pressure. If hypertension is diagnosed, it is necessary to seek medical treatment promptly to avoid missing the best time of treatment. Besides, during the treatment process, patients should follow their doctor’s advice, undergo regular check-ups, and avoid irregular medication schedules or taking the liberty to stop or increase medication dosages.
Expert Introduction
Text/ Huang Fei