{"id":1133,"date":"2022-12-20T14:28:13","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T14:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2022-12-20T21:44:41","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T21:44:41","slug":"13-things-about-hypertension-you-may-not-have-known","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/13-things-about-hypertension-you-may-not-have-known\/","title":{"rendered":"13 things about hypertension you may not have known"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8216;What you don\u2019t know about high blood pressure could hurt you<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are amongst the 54 million people in Nigeria with hypertension and high blood pressure, it&#8217;s important to understand how it affects your health &#8211; and take action today to bring your numbers down to healthier levels. It is very possible to bring the numbers down just by having the right information and being consistent in doing the right things. Do you also know that many people who have the condition don\u2019t know they have it? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need to know everything about hypertension, it needs to be at the tip of your fingers. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the 13 things about hypertension you may not have known.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1137\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1137\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1137\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-300x158.png\" alt=\"Hypertension and blood pressure\" width=\"560\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-300x158.png 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-1024x538.png 1024w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-768x403.png 768w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-380x200.png 380w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-800x420.png 800w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1-1160x609.png 1160w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-6-1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1137\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Checking your blood pressure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Hypertension (also referred to as High blood pressure or HBP) is when your blood pressure, the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels, is consistently too high.<\/b><\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blood pressure is the force of blood against the inner walls of your arteries. It has normal fluctuations throughout the day, which fall when you\u2019re relaxed or asleep, rising naturally in the morning, and increasing temporarily when you\u2019re under stress, excited, or exercising. But when you are resting, your blood pressure level rises too high, it can scar, stiffen and\/or weaken blood vessels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Having high blood pressure (BP) on one reading isn&#8217;t a confirmation of hypertension during a blood pressure check.<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Your health care provider will likely take 3 &#8211; 4 BP readings each at 3 or more separate appointments before diagnosing you with hypertension. This is because blood pressure normally varies throughout the day, and it may be elevated during visits to the hospital, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38\" style=\"width: 479px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-38\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/How-to-prevent-stroke-using-these-stroke-screening-tests-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"High blood pressure\" width=\"479\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/How-to-prevent-stroke-using-these-stroke-screening-tests-300x200.jpg 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/How-to-prevent-stroke-using-these-stroke-screening-tests-768x512.jpg 768w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/How-to-prevent-stroke-using-these-stroke-screening-tests.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 479px) 100vw, 479px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">African American man holding his chest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>Bonus:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Laboratory tests are actually done for hypertension. These include urinalysis, blood cell count, blood chemistry (potassium, sodium, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol), and an electrocardiogram.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/hypertension\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more; The Truth About Hypertension<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">A lot of people who have high blood pressure don\u2019t know it.<\/span> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hypertension rarely has noticeable symptoms. It is sometimes called &#8220;the silent killer&#8221;. Because many people feel fine, they don\u2019t think they need to get their blood pressure checked. If untreated, it increases your risk of problems such as Heart attacks, Heart failure, Strokes, Vision loss, Sexual Dysfunction &amp; Kidney failure. The only way to know is to check your blood pressure regularly. Talk to your doctor (link) about your risk for high blood pressure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Drinking too much alcohol and sometimes caffeine can raise blood pressure.<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This is because caffeine is a stimulant. Regular caffeine consumption doesn\u2019t typically raise your blood pressure, but it may be a factor for people who ingest it in high amounts from things like soda, coffee, or energy drinks&#8221;. Alcohol, on the other hand, does have an impact. Excessive alcohol intake can raise blood pressure. Reducing alcohol consumption to no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women can have a positive impact on your blood pressure, it can reduce systolic blood pressure by 2 to 4 mm Hg.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>You might say; I don&#8217;t need to worry about hypertension since I&#8217;m so young. This is not true.<\/b><\/span> Young people can have high blood pressure, too. It doesn\u2019t just happen to older adults. It happens to older adults more because their arteries naturally stiffen as they age, and that increases the resistance within the arteries, which increases blood pressure. Nearly 1 in 4 adults aged 20 to 44 have hypertension. Experts think the increased risk for stroke in this age group is a direct result of the rising rates of obesity, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes (link)\u2014conditions that are preventable and treatable. Even children and teens are not left out. they can also have high blood pressure, possibly because of an increase in childhood obesity.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>The timing seems to matter.<\/b><\/span> Evidence suggests that having uncontrolled high blood pressure during midlife (ages 44 to 66) creates a higher risk for dementia later in life. The takeaway? It\u2019s never too early to start thinking about your blood pressure and taking steps to manage your high blood pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get started, talk to medical personnel now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Black people like Africans &amp; Afro-Americans have a higher risk of having high BP.<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In Nigeria alone, there are more than 1.6 million cases a year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Ask your healthcare <\/b><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/\"><b>team<\/b><\/a><b> how often you should check your blood pressure. <\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can get your blood pressure checked at a doctor\u2019s office or pharmacy (link), and you can check it at home if you have a home blood pressure monitor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>There are 2 main types of Hypertension (HTN)<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Primary HTN: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Has no known cause but may be linked to family genes, lack of exercise, bad diet, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Secondary HTN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Due to known causes like kidney disease, thyroid problems, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Here are 5 important symptoms of high BP you shouldn&#8217;t forget;\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Headache\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nosebleeds,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weakness\/Dizziness<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chest pain\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shortness of breath<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Do these things increase your risk of having high BP?\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being above 65 years, <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stress,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black people,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overweight or Obese,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Family History,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lack of Exercise,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smoking,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alcohol abuse,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eating too much salt &amp;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kidney disease.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>These are the following things you should carry out to improve your lifestyle hence, preventing hypertension.<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eat foods with less salt, more fruits &amp; veggies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exercise often<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take your BP drugs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce stress<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have enough sleep<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don&#8217;t smoke<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Limit alcohol<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have a home BP monitor<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check your BP often<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce your SALT intake (note this)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bring your weight within the normal range\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don&#8217;t smoke\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce alcohol<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eat plenty of fruits &amp; vegetables<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stop Panicking or Over Thinking\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exercise often<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1136 aligncenter\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-300x158.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-300x158.png 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-1024x538.png 1024w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-768x403.png 768w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-380x200.png 380w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-800x420.png 800w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5-1160x609.png 1160w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-HYPERTENSION-5.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Research <\/b><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/full\/10.1161\/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.00686#:~:text=There%20is%20growing%20evidence%20that,in%20winter%20and%20summer%2C%20respectively.\"><b>studies<\/b><\/a><b> have proven that blood pressure also fluctuates with the weather.<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It stays on lower margins in the summer and at a higher range in winter. This is because, at a lower temperature, the blood vessels become constricted, and so they exert more pressure to normalize the flow of blood.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>What WellaHealth is doing to support hypertension control.<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/bringing-healthcare-to-everyone-interview-with-wellahealth-user-mr-jimoh\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read this story about how WellaHealth is bringing Healthcare to everyone<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have to be intentional with your health, especially when it comes to hypertension because it doesn\u2019t have direct symptoms. If you don&#8217;t look out for yourself, no one will. WellaHealth is always invested in helping everyone look out for their health with easy healthcare services. If you want to learn how to prevent, manage or treat hypertension, do the following;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Join our community<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;re 20 &#8211; 30 years with no history of hypertension, check your BP at least once every 2 years. If you&#8217;re 40 years &amp; above or you&#8217;re 18-39 years with a high risk of hypertension, check your BP at least once every year. Join our community to access full support from community members and community managers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Register with N600 to access healthcare services for you and your family<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get your blood pressure checked regularly, lower your risk of getting hypertension, and take action to control it if it is high.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talk to a doctor one on one any time of the day even without prior booking, even in emergency situations. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schedule a call here.<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have access to medications any time of the day with our WellaHealth plans which allow you to walk into any of our registered pharmacies to get medications. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/Pharmacy\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search for pharmacies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> close to you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#8216;What you don\u2019t know about high blood pressure could hurt you If you are amongst the 54 million&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82,81,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-1133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-effect-of-alcohol","9":"tag-high-blood-pressure","10":"tag-hypertension"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1133"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1145,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133\/revisions\/1145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellahealth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}