Healing of Hypertension
Blood is carried from the heart to all the body’s tissues and organs in vessels, called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of those arteries.
Electronic blood pressure measuring devices are becoming the norm now mercury is being phased out because of its hazardous nature. A cuff that inflates is wrapped around your upper arm and kept in place with Velcro. A tube leads out of the cuff to a rubber bulb.
The healthcare provider reads the numbers from the gauge as air is released from the cuff. This device that reads blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer. Blood pressure can also be measured with a blood pressure machine. The two numbers that measure your blood pressure are written like a fraction: one number on top and one on the bottom. For example, what many people consider “normal” blood pressure is read as 120/80. The number on top is called the systolic pressure. It measures the pressure inside your blood vessels at the moment your heart beats. The number on the bottom is your diastolic pressure. It measures the pressure in your blood vessels between heartbeats, when your heart is resting.
Hypertension can only be diagnosed after taking several readings to find your average blood pressure. Your blood pressure needs to be taken at least two times, and each reading must be from a different day. If the average of these blood pressure readings is more than 140/90, you have hypertension. A single reading that is more than 140/90 doesn’t necessarily mean that you have hypertension. However, your healthcare provider probably will want to monitor your blood pressure over time to see if it stays there. You can also have hypertension if the average of only one of the numbers (systolic or diastolic) is too high
Hypertension does not cause problems over days, weeks, or even months; rather, it causes problems over many years, and it can affect your entire body. By adding strain to the blood vessel walls, hypertension makes them more likely to develop a buildup of fat and cholesterol — also known as “hardening” of the arteries. This, in turn, puts extra strain on your heart as it pumps blood through the narrowed arteries. Many people do not experience any symptoms of hypertension or related discomfort, so they find it easy to ignore their condition. However, this significantly increases the chances of having kidney disease, a heart attack, a stroke, or other heart and blood vessel problems. Getting this condition under control may add years to a person’s life.
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