So, you have been told you have high blood pressure. It is good that it has been detected but it probably came as a bit of a surprise and a shock. It is good to have found this problem which increases your risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia, and which can be reversed but suddnely to have to think about the possibility of heart disease, stroke and dementia naturally causes most people to be a bit stressed and depressed.
You have been prescribed medication to lower your blood pressure and it is very important you take it as prescribed and your pharmacists is there to help you if you think the drugs are causing problems. However we also want to give you information about the steps you can take to lower your blood pressure, as well as taking the medication, Some of the action you take to do this , increasing the amount you walk for example , will also reduce any feelings of anxiety or depression but firstly
WHAT IS HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE ?
High blood pressure is not a disease like TB or rheumatoid arthritis, something that is very clearly abnormal, people either have TB or they don’t and they either have rheumatoid arthritis or they don’t. High blood pressure is different and doctors usually refer to it as a condition. Everyone who is alive has blood pressure as the heart pumps the oxygen rich blood from the lungs round the body, just like the pump in your central heating system andit needs pressure to do this . The blood surges with every heart beat and atthat moment pressure is its highest ,>this is called the Systolic Blood Pressure or SBP.Then , just before the next beat the pressure hasdropped off to the lowest level called the Diastolic Blood Pressure or DBP and your result is usually given as “136 over 82” or “122 over 71”.
Everyone is at risk vascular disease, furring up of the arteries, and the higher the blood pressure, either SBP or DBP the greater the risk and there comes a level at which research has shown that the risk is high enough to justify offering you drug treatment, which like all drug treatment has the risk of side effects
THE ACTIVITY PHARMACY SERVICE FOR PEOPLE WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
You have been prescribed medicine to bring down your blood pressure , an “anti hypertensive drug” because Hypertension is the fancy medical name for high blood pressure and it is very important that
- You take the drug as prescribed
- You report any problems you feel may be the side effect of the drug , because all drugs have side effects
- You measure your blood pressure once a week, three time in the morning and three times before going to bed and you can do this easily and accurately yourself using this blood pressure measuring equipment (sphygomomanometer is the proper name, or Sphyg for short)
However recent research is that in addition to, and sometimes instead of, drug therapy there are a number of things you can do to help reduce your blood pressure and feel better while doing so and it is important to recognises that many people become anxious and depressed after being told they have high blood pressure and the Activity Pharmacy also offers therapeutic services to reduce feelings of anxiety or depression. Lets start with the steps you can take to reduce blood pressure
For many people with high blood pressure the priority is to lose weight – find out what your ideal weight is using the NHS BMI healthy weight calculator Ask the Pharmacist if you need help to do this. Also you can read advice from the NHS about losing weight if you're overweight You should also cut your salt intake to less than 6g (0.2oz) a day, which is about a teaspoonful – find out how you can reduce the amount of salt in your diet . in addition
- cut down on alcohol – get tips on cutting down, including downloading a drinks diary and keeping track of your drinking
- drink less caffeine – found in coffee, tea and cola
In addition activity has other benefits and activities that involve both physical exercise and mental exercise can make an important contribution and you should consider trying of the types of exercise listed below either on line or locally in a group
Yoga
Tai chi
Mindfulness
The good news is that these reduce stress and this also contributes to lowering the blood pressure
The Ramblers also organise Wellbeing Walks and just near you there are two walks which you can see by clicking here