There are various different ways you can approach a high blood pressure treatment plan. The best one will look at your all around lifestyle choices and make adjustments to it.
Since hypertension can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney disease, getting on a good high blood pressure treatment program is a smart idea for your long-term health.
Good high blood pressure treatment plans are associated with a 35-40% reducing in stroke and a 20-25% reduction in heart attacks. Anyone who has a reading of greater than 120/80 should be looking at ways they can adjust their life in order to bring this reading down.
If an individual has a very high reading, medication will likely be one of the first options they should consider, until at least they are back down to around 140/90 mm Hg. Usually the medication options that are looked at are angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE), Angiotension II reception blockers, diuretics and calcium channel blockers. It is essential though to speak with your doctor about these and report any other drugs you may be taking at the time so as to not risk any drug interactions.
The next methods to which you can use for your program are lifestyle modifications. The first step is lowering the total sodium you take in with your diet as high salt intakes do tend to lead to hypertension. Next you will want to focus on losing weight if you are currently overweight or are obese. Quitting smoking is another essential thing to do if you currently smoke.
Lastly making additional changes to your diet, on top of the reduction in salt intake, will also be important. You should consider eating more fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products while reducing your total fat intake as well because high cholesterol can create an environment that may promote hypertension. Lastly, try and reduce your consumption of alcohol to at most two drinks for men and one drink for women. While there are some advantages to a moderate amount of alcohol intake, when you are considering hypertension, often the disadvantages will outweigh the advantages.
So be sure to take the steps to implement your own program. Speaking with a doctor about your own condition will help to ensure you get a plan that is best suited to you individually.
