High Blood Pressure – What is the Cause?
January 27th, 2012
There are indeed a number of factors that can cause high blood pressure so it’s important to identify it quickly so it doesn’t have a chance to lead to serious disease if not treated. It’s easy to get your blood pressure checked, and you can even buy kits to check it yourself at home (though the cheaper units are not considered very accurate), provided you have a valid credit card number. Every individual is different and may present with different symptoms, we will discuss some of the most common ones here. Smoking is one activity that can cause high blood pressure and certainly doesn’t help the artery clearance process.. High blood pressure is only one of the conditions that can be caused by smoking. Regular smoking hardens the arteries and creates dangerous blockages which can cause or worsen high blood pressure. The length of time someone has smoked for, and how consistently, all have an effect on one’s blood pressure. Still, it’s important to realize that even light smokers are taking a risk, as well as people who are regularly exposed to second hand smoke. Fortunately, even if you’re a long time smoking, if you quit you can reverse many health problems, including hypertension. Heavy drinkers of alcohol are putting themselves at risk for hypertension. Recent evidence suggests that wine and other alcoholic beverages may actually be healthy in small quantities, and be good for your blood pressure. However, it’s also true that people who consume more than two alcoholic beverages per day have a higher risk of health problems such as high blood pressure. The benefits of light drinking are also not available to alcoholics or anyone with a tendency in that direction. So if you are able to limit your intake of alcohol, light drinking may be good for your health, but more than this is harmful. High blood pressure can be caused by taking certain medicines or drugs. Stimulants of any kind, such as cocaine, are known to be dangerous to your blood pressure and heart. High blood pressure can also be caused by taking prescription drugs, including many antidepressants and birth control pills. High blood pressure can even be caused by frequently taking certain OTC items, such as cold remedies and a variety of other medications. If you are prone to high blood pressure, then, research any medication you take and always read the labels. Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor about the side effects, such as hypertension, about any prescription medication you are taking. It’s essential to keep track of your blood pressure, especially if it tends to be high, no matter what the cause. The main reason people’s blood pressure gets out of control is because they don’t monitor it, or don’t listen to their doctors. We’ve looked at just a few of the possible risk factors for high blood pressure. When you know you have high blood pressure, there are many methods to reduce it, but you have to be willing to make some changes.