The Beauty Magazine Contests

The good news is that you can prevent it!

And it’s not difficult -- it’s a matter of managing your body to suit your lifestyle in a more health conscious way. The reason it is so important to do something about your high blood pressure (if the above stats don’t concern you) is because this is not like getting a cold where you can see and experience all the symptoms -- with hypertension there are no symptoms. You’ll only know you have it, if you get your blood pressure checked! This is why it is often referred to as “The Silent Killer”.

When your blood pressure is high it means your heart is having trouble pumping your blood through your arteries, undue strain is caused by narrow or clogged arteries and this in turn can damage your heart or brain. Your heart has to pump more rapidly to squeeze through weakened arteries giving you high blood pressure. Heart failure is caused when it is simply too difficult for your heart to pump blood around the body effectively, your ankles will swell and you'll have problems with shortness of breath. The Blood Pressure Association trying to bring awareness to the importance of having your blood pressure measured on a regular basis, recently held a “Know your numbers week”.

This is where residents were urged to go to the local pharmacy or doctor’s office to get their blood pressure checked. Even the illustrious Jack Straw got in on the action and said, “I am supporting the Blood Pressure Association’s Know Your Numbers Week because it’s shocking to realize that one in three adults has high blood pressure, yet millions of them don’t know it. This is a health issue that affects many constituents, so I hope that as many people as possible have a blood pressure test to reduce their risk.” So how do you know what your perfect blood pressure should be? Well, firstly you have to remember that your blood pressure changes constantly depending on what it is you are doing or experiencing at the time.
For example; when you are exercising, or if you're feeling tense this will obviously make your blood pressure rise, however, if you're relaxed reading a book, (I dare not say TV because I have seen people get quite anxious watching a game or movie!) your blood pressure will be lower. So whenever, you are getting your blood pressure measured you have to be in the same state or try and stay in the same frame of mind each and every time. Both the U.S. and the U.K. Associations agree on 140/90 being the key marker for high blood pressure; this means that the systolic pressure is consistently 140 or above or the diastolic pressure is consistently 90 or above. If you don't take action at this point you will be at high risk of developing heart or brain damage. The ideal measurement for most is around 120/80 but some data concludes that even lower around 115/75 would be even better.

Although both these numbers are important, when you are over 50 the systolic reading is vital as you could be experiencing Isolated Systolic Hypertension (ISH) this is where your diastolic is normal but your systolic pressure is high. Key factors in keeping your blood pressure lower are lifestyle changes such as; reducing alcohol consumption; no smoking, less stress, less salt intake and maintaining a healthy weight. When it comes to stress, it's a good idea to take deep breaths before during and after a stressful encounter, whether it's at work or at home! When we talk about weight, think about this… every 10 pound reduction can lower blood pressure by 5-20 points. Making sure your potassium levels are good is also advised. Exercising will help a great deal in managing your blood pressure especially breathing exercises like Yoga or Meditation. In fact there is a new device now available in the U.K. known as “Resperate” that has been in the headlines lately, it promises to lower blood pressure by teaching you how to control and slow down your breathing pattern.
Research shows that when you when you take slow deep breaths, even for just for a short period of 15 minutes a day it can help lower your blood pressure. Easier said than done, which is why “Resperate” seems to be getting all the attention. It is a CD like battery operated device that plays different tones to breathe in and out with. By placing an elastic belt with a sensor around the torso and watching the visuals on the screen, the tones easily train you to breathe 10 breaths a minute. Over time this proves to be beneficial in reducing blood pressure. So why does calm breathing work?

Well, if you think it's all to do with relaxing, you could be wrong! Dr. David Anderson of the National Institute of Health believes that when we slow our breathing we are making our bodies more efficient - including our kidneys. So if our kidneys are responsible for breaking down salt in our bodies and they are working more efficiently then the salt is being dissolved faster. Makes sense! Either way, keeping a close eye on your blood pressure is vital to preventing heart disease problems and it is so easy to have your levels checked, there's no reason not to do it!

Helpful hints on how to lower your blood pressure
Ask your health professional about the intake of some low fat dairy products like, yoghurt, skimmed milk and even a slice of unprocessed cheese. Warm weather has been shown to help reduce blood pressure during the day, so you may want to check with your doctor to see if reducing your medication is possible during the summer. Potassium is a real pleaser to the system and plays an important role in regulating your body, so having a potato instead of rice a couple of times a week is not a bad idea. They are naturally full of potassium. You might want to throw a few banana slices on your cereal as well as each banana has about 450 mg of potassium. Is it any surprise that olive oil may also have a positive impact on high blood pressure? A recent study in Italy showed that subjects fed Olive Oil in their diets had a “straightforward reduction in anti-hypertensive medication” when their blood pressure levels were checked four months later. Another study in New York showed that stock brokers that were given pets had lower blood pressure overall than those who were not! It didn´t matter which type of pet, cat or dog etc., so go give Fido a cuddle!




	The good news is that you can prevent it! And it’s not difficult -- it’s a matter of managing your body to suit your lifestyle in a more health conscious way. The reason it is so important to do something about your high blood pressure (if the above stats don’t concern you) is because this is not like getting a cold where you can see and experience all the symptoms -- with hypertension there are no symptoms. You’ll only know you have it, if you get your blood pressure checked! This is why it is often referred to as “The Silent Killer”. When your blood pressure is high it means your heart is having trouble pumping your blood through your arteries, undue strain is caused by narrow or clogged arteries and this in turn can damage your heart or brain. Your heart has to pump more rapidly to squeeze through weakened arteries giving you high blood pressure. Heart failure is caused when it is simply too difficult for your heart to pump blood around the body effectively, your ankles will swell and you'll have problems with shortness of breath. The Blood Pressure Association trying to bring awareness to the importance of having your blood pressure measured on a regular basis, recently held a “Know your numbers week”. This is where residents were urged to go to the local pharmacy or doctor’s office to get their blood pressure checked. Even the illustrious Jack Straw got in on the action and said, “I am supporting the Blood Pressure Association’s Know Your Numbers Week because it’s shocking to realize that one in three adults has high blood pressure, yet millions of them don’t know it. This is a health issue that affects many constituents, so I hope that as many people as possible have a blood pressure test to reduce their risk.” So how do you know what your perfect blood pressure should be? Well, firstly you have to remember that your blood pressure changes constantly depending on what it is you are doing or experiencing at the time. For example; when you are exercising, or if you're feeling tense this will obviously make your blood pressure rise, however, if you're relaxed reading a book, (I dare not say TV because I have seen people get quite anxious watching a game or movie!) your blood pressure will be lower. So whenever, you are getting your blood pressure measured you have to be in the same state or try and stay in the same frame of mind each and every time. Both the U.S. and the U.K. Associations agree on 140/90 being the key marker for high blood pressure; this means that the systolic pressure is consistently 140 or above or the diastolic pressure is consistently 90 or above. If you don't take action at this point you will be at high risk of developing heart or brain damage. The ideal measurement for most is around 120/80 but some data concludes that even lower around 115/75 would be even better. Although both these numbers are important, when you are over 50 the systolic reading is vital as you could be experiencing Isolated Systolic Hypertension (ISH) this is where your diastolic is normal but your systolic pressure is high. Key factors in keeping your blood pressure lower are lifestyle changes such as; reducing alcohol consumption; no smoking, less stress, less salt intake and maintaining a healthy weight. When it comes to stress, it's a good idea to take deep breaths before during and after a stressful encounter, whether it's at work or at home! When we talk about weight, think about this… every 10 pound reduction can lower blood pressure by 5-20 points. Making sure your potassium levels are good is also advised. Exercising will help a great deal in managing your blood pressure especially breathing exercises like Yoga or Meditation. In fact there is a new device now available in the U.K. known as “Resperate” that has been in the headlines lately, it promises to lower blood pressure by teaching you how to control and slow down your breathing pattern. Research shows that when you when you take slow deep breaths, even for just for a short period of 15 minutes a day it can help lower your blood pressure. Easier said than done, which is why “Resperate” seems to be getting all the attention. It is a CD like battery operated device that plays different tones to breathe in and out with. By placing an elastic belt with a sensor around the torso and watching the visuals on the screen, the tones easily train you to breathe 10 breaths a minute. Over time this proves to be beneficial in reducing blood pressure. So why does calm breathing work? Well, if you think it's all to do with relaxing, you could be wrong! Dr. David Anderson of the National Institute of Health believes that when we slow our breathing we are making our bodies more efficient - including our kidneys. So if our kidneys are responsible for breaking down salt in our bodies and they are working more efficiently then the salt is being dissolved faster. Makes sense! Either way, keeping a close eye on your blood pressure is vital to preventing heart disease problems and it is so easy to have your levels checked, there's no reason not to do it! Helpful hints on how to lower your blood pressure Ask your health professional about the intake of some low fat dairy products like, yoghurt, skimmed milk and even a slice of unprocessed cheese. Warm weather has been shown to help reduce blood pressure during the day, so you may want to check with your doctor to see if reducing your medication is possible during the summer. Potassium is a real pleaser to the system and plays an important role in regulating your body, so having a potato instead of rice a couple of times a week is not a bad idea. They are naturally full of potassium. You might want to throw a few banana slices on your cereal as well as each banana has about 450 mg of potassium. Is it any surprise that olive oil may also have a positive impact on high blood pressure? A recent study in Italy showed that subjects fed Olive Oil in their diets had a “straightforward reduction in anti-hypertensive medication” when their blood pressure levels were checked four months later. Another study in New York showed that stock brokers that were given pets had lower blood pressure overall than those who were not! It didn´t matter which type of pet, cat or dog etc., so go give Fido a cuddle!
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