Archive for the ‘Hypertension’ Category

Blood pressure measurement techniques

Thursday, April 21st, 2011


Blood pressure is not the same throughout the day. It varies with time of day or night, exercise, excitement or stress. Because of this normal variation it is important to measure the Blood Pressure a few times on different occasions.

If the Blood Pressure reading is consistently equal to or higher than 140 systolic and 90 diastolic or both, then the doctor will diagnose you as having high blood pressure or hypertension.

World Hypertension Day Tuesday Friday 17th May 2011

Blood pressure should be measured in a standard manner and the equipment used must meet certification criteria.

The following blood pressure measurement techniques are recommended :

1.The patient should be seated on a chair with their backs supported and their arms bared and supported at heart level. They should not smoke or ingest caffeine during the 30 minutes preceding the measurement.

2.The patient should rest for 5 minutes before blood pressure is taken. An appropriate cuff should be used. The bladder within the cuff should encircle at least 80 percent of the arm.

3.Measurements should be taken with a mercury sphygmomanometer. A recently calibrated aneroid manometer or a validated electronic device can be used. Finger monitors are not acceptable. Blood pressure devices used for home measurement should be checked periodically by comparing readings with simultaneous readings taken with a mercury device.

4.Both the systolic (SBP)and diastolic (DBP)blood pressure is recorded. The first appearance of sound is taken as SBP and the disappearance of sound is the DBP.

Hypertension or High Blood Pressure

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011


Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is a silent disease which can lead to many complications and even death threat if not treated. Hypertension is most commonly known as High Blood Pressure. It is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated. Blood pressure is the force applied against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body.

Blood Pressure

Your heart works like a pump and it contracts and relaxes.The Blood Pressure measurements is in two readings e.g. 140/75

Systolic pressure – the higher number (140 in this example)
Diastolic blood pressure – the lower number (75 in this example)

Hypertension Causes

The cause of hypertension is usually not known even after the doctor’s examination.

However Hypertension can be the result of

*Kidney diseases
*Drugs e.g. steroids, NSAIDs
*Genetic factors
*Alcohol and smoking increases risk of complications of hypertension (including heart disease and stroke)

Hypertension Sign & symptoms

*Most of the time, hypertension does not cause any signs or symptoms.
*Sometimes a person may have non specific symptoms e.g. headache or giddiness.
*Have your blood pressure checked regularly at the nearest clinic. Your doctor will advise you on how often to check your blood pressure.

Complications

The high blood pressure will lead to increased strain of your vital body organs especially brain, heart, kidneys, resulting

in damage. The type of damage will depend on how long duration and how fast the pressure rises.

*Rapid rise blood pressure
*This can cause confusion, drowsiness, fits and even death and must be treated urgently.
*Long term high blood pressure. The prolonged stress of the body organs can lead to the following :-
*heart – leading to heart failure, heart attack and death
*blood vessels – leading to hardening of vessels
*kidney – leading to kidney failure
*eyes – leading to bleeding and damage to the light-sensitive area of the eyes
*brain – leading to stroke

The good news is all the above can be prevented if you seek treatment early.

Treatment

Your hypertension can be managed using

*Non-drug treatment

This would require you to modify your lifestyle such as
*Reduce salt in your diet
*Increased physical activities
*Reduce your body weight if overweight via exercise and dieting
*Stop smoking and alcohol intake
*Stress reduction

Drug treatment

The Important of Heart Attack Statistics and Facts

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010



heart attack statistics The Important of Heart Attack Statistics and FactsWe advice you to take your time reading this heart attack statistics, as many people experience many form of stressor from daily living, the incidence of heart attack increases. Usually, stress is normal and even healthy for people so they can be challenged and live normally.

Unfortunately, once stress surpass the levels that a human being can deal with, certain health conditions like cardiovascular diseases can develop too.

Heart attack statistics from many countries illustrates the fact that heart attack is one of the leading cause of death worldwide.

The Heart Attack Statistics Reports

One of the most credible source of information for heart attack statistics is World Health Organization. According to their 2002 report, 49 % of heart attack was mainly triggered by high blood pressure. Hypertension is a result of poor diet choices like fatty food which can lead to obesity.

Those who suffer from hypertension most of the time lack exercise. Once blood pressure elevates, chest pain and shortness of breath is felt which can lead to heart attack. A lot of times, stress caused by worrying and emotional anxiety can contribute to hypertension. Hence, heart attack statistics points out to us the necesssity of living a healthy life and active lifestyle for our own good.

Furthermore, other metabolic disorders are also connected to heart problems like diabetes. In the heart attack statistics reported by Australia’s health in 2004, 3.3% of adults who sought medical treatment from diabetes and had a heart attack. Diabetes.org states that 2 out of 3 people afflicted with diabetes can die from heart attack or stroke. Thereby, heart attack statistics are extremely important because they not only supply us data but tells us about other diseases related to this condition.

Bad Habit – A Sign Of Heart Attack Statistics

Another very important information about heart attack statistics is that it tells people about the connection between bad habits like smoking and likelihood of heart disease. The World Federation Fact Sheet 2002 states that Myocardial Infarction, or commonly known as heart attack has 4 times higher rate to happen among people who smoke heavily. This is the reason why doctors often advise their patients who have heart problems to quit smoking as soon as possible since their arteries are already damaged.

Heart attack statistics are not numbers but good data that gives us valuable insights that can even save our lives.

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