Tag Archives: blood pressure

Healthy Relationships are Good for Your Health

We have many relationships in our lives. We have relationships with people at home and at work. How we deal with these relationships can greatly affect our moods, personalities, and health. All couples should desire having a healthy relationship. Healthy relationships make people happier and more confident. In addition to having a healthy relationship for purposes of happiness, healthy relationships can also improve a person’s overall health. Research shows that people in healthy relationships are healthier people in general. While most of these relationships are thought to be with a mate, good relationships are also desired with coworkers, family members, … Continue reading →

Five More Ways To Protect Your Heart

Don’t stop at just five changes to protect yourself from heart disease. Here are some more things you can do to help lower your risk of heart disease. Watch your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides. Keep a copy of your blood work from annual check ups. LDL cholesterol should be under 100 mg/dL; HDL cholesterol should be 50 or above. Blood pressure should be 120/80 or lower. Fasting blood sugar should be 100 mg/dL or lower. Triglycerides should be under 150 mg/dL. Stay active! Physical activity can reduce every controllable risk factor for heart disease. Just ten minutes … Continue reading →

Hand Holding and Mental Health

The scientists have finally given us conclusive proof of what we all pretty much knew. Holding hands reduces stress. Researchers at the University of Virginia studied couples who described themselves as “happily married” and found, not surprisingly, that the simply act of touching is a very potent stress-relieving activity. The women in the study were given mild electric shocks at known intervals and scrutinized to determine the effects of the stress and whether the comforting presence of a significant other had any affect on the level of stress experienced. Using electrodes to measure numerous bodily functions such as heart and … Continue reading →

Hey, Chocoholics!

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The next set of evidence about the health benefits of chocolate has arrived. A study from the University of Cologne in Germany found that dark chocolate seems to have a lowering effect on your blood pressure! Before you go digging into that box of chocolates, keep reading. According to the study, it doesn’t take a lot of chocolate to produce the beneficial effects for your heart. The volunteers in the German study ate about six grams of dark chocolate every day — that’s about one and a half Hershey’s Kisses. If ever there was a study I wish I could … Continue reading →

High Blood Pressure Fact and Fiction

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There is a lot of misinformation out there about high blood pressure. Do you know the truth from the myth? Fiction: Symptoms of high blood pressure include nervousness, sweating, and trouble sleeping. Fact: High blood pressure has NO outward symptoms. It’s called the “silent killer” for a reason. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get your blood pressure checked. One in four adults in the United States has high blood pressure, and a third of them don’t even know it. Fiction: High blood pressure readings at the doctor’s office just mean that you’re … Continue reading →

High Blood Pressure and Women

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Approximately seventy-two million Americans have some form of high blood pressure — and nearly half of them are women. Women may be particularly at risk for developing high blood pressure. Risk factors include: Taking birth control pills. For some women, taking the Pill can affect your blood pressure. Things can get even more complicated if you have other risk factors like obesity, a family history of high blood pressure, or a smoking habit. Ask your doctor about your risk for high blood pressure before you start taking birth control pills, and get your blood pressure checked at least every six … Continue reading →

What Can You Do About High Blood Pressure?

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Some risk factors for high blood pressure are things you can’t help. You can’t change your race, or your gender, or your family history. However, there are some things you CAN do to help lower your high blood pressure. Lose weight. Many people with hypertension are also overweight. Losing weight will help reduce the strain on your heart (and other organs) and will often lead to a drop in blood pressure. Eat a healthy diet. Cutting back on salt can help lower blood pressure. Make sure your diet has plenty of fruits and veggies and try to stick to fat … Continue reading →

Why Lower Your Blood Pressure?

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High blood pressure can hurt your body in different ways. Most importantly, is the strain it puts on your heart and arteries. If your heart works harder than normal for a long time, it can get bigger, and an enlarged heart can have a hard time keeping up with your body’s needs. Of all the people in the United States with high blood pressure: 11 percent aren’t doing anything about it — no special diet, no medication. 25 percent are on therapy for it, but aren’t doing enough. Only 34 percent of people with high blood pressure are doing enough … Continue reading →

Are You At Risk For High Blood Pressure?

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Ready for a kind of scary fact? One in three adult Americans has high blood pressure. Of those people, approximately one third don’t know they have high blood pressure. Do you know what your last blood pressure reading was? Do you know what it meant? A normal, healthy adult blood pressure reading is 120/80 mm Hg or below. Readings between 120-139 systolic and 80-89 diastolic puts you into a category known as prehypertension, where you are at risk for developing high blood pressure. Anything consistently above 140/90 mm Hg is considered high blood pressure. There are some risk factors for … Continue reading →

All About Blood Pressure

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I got my blood pressure checked when I was getting my tetanus booster shot after I got bit at the dog park a few weeks ago. The nurse rattled off some numbers, and I asked, “Is that good?” She said yes. Lucky me! We all have blood pressure — without it, our blood wouldn’t circulate, bringing oxygen and other resources to our organs. There are actually two forces in the blood pressure, which is why we get a reading like 110 over 80. The first number is the systolic pressure, the pressure when the heart beats to pumps blood into … Continue reading →