Cameron Hall Lifestyle Choices Leading to High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) “The greatest wealth is health.” - Virgil

Physical Inactivity Physical activity is good for your heart and circulatory system. Not getting enough physical activity can make you gain weight, which can lead to high blood pressure! Leading to obesity (excess body fat), directly links to a higher or “bad” cholesterol & triglyceride levels and to lower “good” cholesterol levels. Along with high blood pressure, obesity can lead to heart disease and diabetes.

Poor Diet Especially diets high in sodium A diet that’s high in calories, fats and sugars and low in essential nutrients contributes directly to poor health as well as to obesity. “Salt Sensitivity” – meaning a high- sodium diet raises heir blood pressure. Healthy food choices can actually lower blood pressure.

Tobacco use Tobacco use increases your risk for high blood pressure. Cigarette smoking can damage the heart and blood vessels. Also, nicotine raises blood pressure, and carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen that your blood can carry. Second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease for nonsmokers.

Excessive alcohol Long-term heavy drinking can lead to irregular heartbeats, heart failure and stroke Contributes to high cholesterol Having more than 2 or 3 drinks at a time triggers the release of hormones that increase blood flow and heart rate. This, can raise blood pressure as well as reduce the effectiveness of high blood pressure medication.

Stress Stressful situations can temporarily increase your blood pressure, science has not proven that stress CAUSES high blood pressure. How you deal with stress may affect other, established risk factors for high blood pressure or heart disease. Ex. – People under stress may overeat or eat a less healthy diet, put off physical activity, drink, smoke, or misuse drugs.

WHAT DO ALL THESE HAVE IN COMMON?! These Risk Factors CAN BE CHANGED!

Risk Factors that can NOT be changed Age – as we age, we all develop higher risk for high blood pressure and CVD. Ethnicity- African Americans- If you’re African American, there’s a good chance that you or a relative has HBP. Women – Starting at age 65, women are more likely to have high blood pressure than men. Children – While HBP is common in adults, children can develop it too. Family History- Genetics, if your parents or close relatives have had HBP, you are more likely to develop it.

References ssure/UnderstandYourRiskforHighBloodPressure/Understand- Your-Risk-for-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002052_Article.jsp ssure/UnderstandYourRiskforHighBloodPressure/Understand- Your-Risk-for-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002052_Article.jsp pressure/basics/risk-factors/con pressure/basics/risk-factors/con lifestyle-tips-to-lower-high-blood-pressure lifestyle-tips-to-lower-high-blood-pressure hypertension-risk-factors hypertension-risk-factors