Nowadays every second person is suffering from hypertension. The reasons are multiple including an imbalanced or poor diet, stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, little or no physical activity, and other such lifestyle changes. One can live healthily with no heart problems and high blood pressure by controlling all the above conditions before time. Once you have been diagnosed with hypertension, there are different first-line Treatments For Hypertension. That includes both pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention. Treatments For Hypertension are discussed in detail below:
Table of Contents
Pharmacological Management Of Hypertension
If your blood pressure remains consistently high, pharmacological treatment is must for its remedy. Doctors usually suggest thiazide diuretics, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, and other such medications as initial therapy for increased BP. These include common drug generic Lisinopril, Ramipril, Captopril, or a combination of multiple drugs available in different brand names.
It is suggested not to start taking these medications by yourself. First, let the physician do a proper diagnosis and checkup. Then he would suggest you the medicines that suit your disease severity, symptoms, and other such factors.
Lifestyle Modifications
Increase Uptake of Vegetables, Fruits, And Whole Grains
Healthcare professionals usually recommend a diet with most green vegetables, fruits, and foods rich in fiber while avoiding high-fat consumption, red meat, carbonated soft drinks, oily, and too many sweet dishes. The foods that raise the cholesterol levels in the blood increase the risk of several heart-related issues like high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes, and stroke, etc.
Follow a diet plan with all these required nutrients but according to your daily calorie requirements. In other cases, you may aggravate not only the blood pressure level but also diabetes and other health issues.
Exercise & Physical Activity
A balanced diet alone is not enough to keep your body healthy if you live a stagnant life with little or no physical activity. Moderate to vigorous anaerobic exercise like brisk walking for at least four to five times a week is good enough to relieve high BP naturally. Other anaerobic exercises include bicycling, jogging, little to moderate-intensity swimming, or routine yard work like pushing a lawnmower or raking.
Limit Sodium Intake
Sodium intake is linked directly with the blood pressure profile. If you consume too much salt, sodium level increases causing fluid retention in the body. This ultimately increases the force on the blood vessels and results in high blood pressure.
For this, it is advised to reduce sodium consumption in the daily food intake. The normal value of sodium is 2400 mg per day that is approximately equal to one teaspoon full of table salt. Thus it can be done by taking less salt in your diet, avoiding prepackaged frozen or dry foods, canned foods, or eating from restaurants.
Weight Loss
Studies have shown that obese individuals are at the greatest risk of getting cardiovascular disorders than those with normal body weight. On average the systolic pressure can be lowered by 5 to 20 mm of Hg by losing a weight of 10 kilograms.
It is another important non-pharmacological strategy for lowering elevated blood pressure. Besides hypertension, obesity also causes some other adverse effects like cardiometabolic disturbances, insulin resistance, and imbalanced lipid level.
Avoid Smoking
A survey conducted in India in the year 2020 shows that about 19 percent of individuals diagnosed with high blood pressure levels are smokers. Smoking is not only linked with hypertension, it also increases the occurrence of diabetes, lung and kidney disorders, thyroid problems, and respiratory disorders in humans.
When a person smokes tobacco or other narcotics, it results in enhanced sympathetic activity that increases the oxygen demands of the body and in turn the blood pressure. Furthermore, smokers gain weight as well that further increases the chances and severity of blood-related diseases.
Dietary Supplements
Certain dietary ingredients can lower blood pressure naturally without making you dependent on medicines. Among these, garlic is the most popular and effective agent. Its BP lowering activity is verified by many scientific types of research. Other such supplements include cocoa, food items containing omega 3, magnesium, fatty acids, coenzyme Q10, and vitamin C. Adding these nutrients to your diet along with other life modifications can lower the risk of hypertension by many times.
Persistent high blood pressure also known as hypertension is treatable in several ways. Thus, it is advisable not to take it lightly when you are diagnosed with it. Consult with your physician and he will suggest you the right management strategy according to your current health condition. The guide given above can help avoid and treat high BP with easy lifestyle modifications as the first line of treatment.
