Blood pressure is the pressure your blood exerts against your blood vessel walls as your heart pumps. Blood pressure rises with each heartbeat and falls when the heart relaxes between beats, but there is always a certain amount of pressure in the arteries.

That blood pressure comes from two physical forces. The heart creates one force as it pumps blood into the arteries and through the circulatory system. The other force comes from the arteries resisting the blood flow.

What is normal blood pressure?

Blood pressure is measured using two numbers. An example of this could be ‘the blood pressure is 120 over 80′, which is written as ’120/80mmHg’.

·    The first figure is the systolic blood pressure – the maximum pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts (beats) and pushes blood out into the body.

High Blood Pressure Symptoms

High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms.

·    Even if high blood pressure does cause symptoms, the symptoms are usually mild and nonspecific (vague, or suggesting many different disorders).

·    Thus, high blood pressure often is labeled “the silent killer.”

Causes

Although it may not be possible to identify the cause, there are several things that are known to increase the risk of developing hypertension and that are known to exacerbate it when it is present. These include:

·  Obesity

·  Sedentary lifestyle

·  Smoking

·  Excessive use of alcohol

·  Excessive dietary sodium

·  Use of oral contraceptives

·  Use of drugs such as steroids, cocaine, and amphetamines

In approximately 5–10% of patients, a secondary cause exists. Secondary causes include certain types of kidney disease, abnormal functioning of certain glands (adrenal glands, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands), chronic intake of certain substances and medications (e.g., alcohol, steroids), and the presence of a rare tumor (e.g., pheochromocytoma, which secretes adrenaline-like

substances).

Measuring blood pressure

Blood pressure is measured with a monitor called a sphygmomanometer. This is a digital box attached to a tube with a cuff on the end.

·    The top figure – the systolic blood pressure – is a measure of the pressure when your heart muscle is contracting and pumping blood. This is the maximum pressure in your blood system.

·    The bottom figure – the diastolic blood pressure – is the pressure between heart beats when the heart is resting and filling with blood. This is the minimum pressure in your blood system.

How blood pressure is controlled

When the heart contracts, the blood inside the left ventricle is forced out into the aorta and arteries. The blood then enters small vessels with muscular walls, called arterioles. The tone in the muscular walls of the arterioles determines how relaxed or constricted they are. If narrowed, they resist flow. Reduced flow of blood is detected in the brain, the kidneys and elsewhere.

Natural Remedies for High Blood Pressure

Lifestyle changes and natural remedies may help to control high blood pressure, but your doctor may also recommend medication tolower high blood pressure. It is important to work with your doctor, because untreated high blood pressure may damage organs in the

body and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, brain hemorrhage, kidney disease, and vision loss. See a drawing of a hypertensive heart.