Why Is It Important to Regulate Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the force with which blood presses against the arteries and veins. Diastolic blood pressure is a measurement of the force of blood flow when your heart is beating. Systolic blood pressure measures the force of blood flow between heart beats while your heart is resting. When your blood pressure is too high or too low you might not feel any symptoms, but you can develop several different dangerous health conditions. It is important to regulate your blood pressure to avoid problems.

Atherosclerosis

• Your arteries become stiffer and thicker as you age. High blood pressure speeds up this process, causing hardening of the arteries that makes it easy for fat deposits to stick to the walls of your arteries. This creates blockage that prevents blood from carrying nutrients and oxygen to parts of the body.

Stroke

• When high blood pressure causes blood vessels in your brain to weaken, they can rupture and cause a hemorrhagic stroke. When a blood clot blocks an artery and keeps blood from flowing to the brain cells, they can die and cause a thrombotic stroke.

Heart Attack and Enlarged Heart

• When arteries that carry blood to the heart are blocked, the lack of oxygen and nutrients can cause you to have a heart attack. High blood pressure makes your heart work harder, causing it to become enlarged. An enlarged heart wears out and stops working.

Kidney Damage

• High blood pressure damages blood vessels that carry blood into your kidneys for cleaning and help to get rid of waste products. This causes toxins to build up in your blood.

Prevention/Solution

• Lifestyle changes are important in regulating blood pressure. To prevent high blood pressure or to lower it once it becomes too high, you should lose weight, eat less salt and saturated fat, avoid alcohol, stop smoking, exercise, and eat more food with potassium, calcium and magnesium. If lifestyle changes alone don't work, your doctor may prescribe medication to lower your blood pressure.

Low Blood Pressure

• Blood pressure should be monitored in case it becomes too low. Low blood pressure can indicate an injury or internal bleeding that causes the heart rate to speed up and arteries to expand in an attempt to increase blood flow and raise blood pressure.