Dr. Arthanaree

Hypertension, which is also known as high blood pressure is a prominent factor that is responsible for the development of many serious health issues like cardiac disorder, chronic kidney diseases, vision loss and stroke. The dominant causes of hypertension include troubled lifestyle style, genetics, environmental factors and internal imbalances. You cannot possibly control the chances of suffering from hypertension but you can always prevent and minimize the risk of the problems that are associated with hypertension.

The following are some lifestyle tips that can help you to manage and minimize the risk of developing hypertension:

• Maintain a healthy body weight: Weight plays a crucial role in the prevention of hypertension. People who are obese run the risk of developing hypertension. It is advisable to lose excessive body fat to maintain an ideal body weight. A well-maintained body weight minimizes the risk of hypertension.
• Eat a healthy and balanced diet: Unhealthy food intake is a primary factor that causes hypertension. Eating a healthy and balanced diet enables you to manage your blood pressure effectively. Incorporate plenty of fresh fruits and leafy vegetables, especially the ones rich in potassium. Limit excess intake of calories, sugar, and fat as they tend to increase the risk of hypertension.
• Reduce consumption of salt: Higher sodium intake increases your blood pressure level. Avoid high-sodium processed and packaged foods as they are high in sodium content. A low-sodium diet enables you to keep your blood pressure normal.
• Exercise regularly: An active lifestyle is known to lower the risk of hypertension. Make sure to indulge yourself into some physical activities on a daily basis.
• Limit the alcohol intake: Excessive intake of alcohol can raise your blood pressure level. Limit your alcohol consumption to minimize the chances of hypertension.
• Monitor your blood pressure: Monitor your blood sugar level on a regular basis. Hypertension usually does not show any symptoms. If your blood pressure ranges between 120-139/80-89 millimeters of mercury it is an indication that you run a higher risk of developing hypertension. A raise in blood pressure demands moderation of lifestyle practices and controlled food intake.
• Manage stress level: Excessive stress and anxiety are not good for your blood pressure. Severe stress is known to shoot up your blood pressure level which leads to the development of many other health related complications including the improper functioning of crucial organs like heart and kidney. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor.

Nahhh !!!!

So here are the  best foods to reduce cholesterol

Have a salmon fish dinner. Snack on a handful of nuts. Pour a dash of olive oil in your salad.

And bite into that sinister chocolate. Now you can do all this guilt-free! All these foods help in fighting bad cholesterol., 'You can reduce cholesterol in your blood by eating healthy foods'. So, here we are today with our list of cholesterol fighting foods.

1) Oats: If you change your morning meal to oats then you can do your cholesterol level a whole lot of good. Do note that two servings of oats can lower LDL cholesterol by 5.3% in only 6 weeks. Essentially, oats contain a substance called beta-glucan which absorbs bad cholesterol.

2) Red Wine: Here's yet another reason to toast to your health. The red grapes used in the manufacturing of red wine have an important effect on cholesterol levels. Two glasses of red wine in a week can do you a whole lot of good.

3) Salmon and fatty Fish: Full of Omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is a natural health wonder, which helps in keeping heart conditions such as heart attacks, stroke and high cholesterol levels at bay. Fishes such as salmon, sardines and herring help in raising good cholesterol levels by 4%.

4) Nuts: Mono-unsaturated fats (found in nuts, seeds etc.) have the lowest fatty acid molecules and are the best of the three fats, namely poly-saturated fats, saturated fats and mono-unsaturated fats. Nuts are the best way to get those required healthy fats into your body without feeling guilty. Since the fats that come from nuts are natural and are not chemically processed, this makes them heart healthy, filling, and nutritious options.

5) Beans: Excellent for the heart, ½ a cup of beans added in our diet (in the form of any dish or soup), helps in lowering cholesterol levels by 8%. You should try black, kidney, or pinto beans; each one of them supplies about one-third of your day's fiber needs.

6) Tea: Tea has antioxidants and less amounts of caffeine than coffee. An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 135 mg caffeine; tea contains only 30 to 40 mg per cup. Tea helps in protecting your bones because of the presence of phytochemicals in them. It is also a great defense against LDL cholesterol levels.

7) Chocolate: Chocoholics can celebrate with a healthy dose of dark chocolate as it is full of antioxidants and cholesterol-reducing properties. According to a Spanish study published in 2010 in the "Journal of Hepatology,", "the antioxidants in dark chocolate reduce the damage that can occur to blood vessels, which can further threaten the health of people with cirrhosis. The dark chocolate can help prevent the blood vessels in the liver from rupturing". Medical experts suggest that munching on 100 grams of chocolate every day helps in reducing the occurrence of cardiovascular mishaps by 21 percent.

8) Spinach: Popeye the sailor was quite right when crediting his muscle power to this green leafy vegetable. It is believed that spinach contains around 13 flavonoid compounds which keep us away from cancer, heart diseases and osteoporosis. 1/2 a cup of this lutein-rich food, daily, guards us against heart attacks.

9) Olive oil: This oil has many health benefits. It contains mono-unsaturated fatty acids which lower bad cholesterol and triglycerides, without lowering good cholesterol levels. Different stages of pressing and processing yield different varieties of olive oil. Extra virgin , Virgin , Pure , Pomace

The most common reason to succumb to death in case of males is a sudden cardiac arrest. Though females also get affected, but the main victims are males over the age of 40. Reasons for the cardiac arrest are many, and the top one is a prevalent heart disease caused by several factors. Factors include high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol, stress, depression, work life imbalance, anxiety, high cholesterol, obesity, hereditary traits, etc.

If you also fall in the same age group or are nearing it, then you must get conscious right now that you don’t fall prey to a sudden cardiac arrest. If you get one, chances of survival depend on how soon you get a treatment and the potential in the body to receive treatment. However, prevention is always better than cure, and here are some measures that you can follow to prevent a cardiac arrest.

How to prevent getting a sudden cardiac arrest?

Prevention of a cardiac arrest starts right from the alteration of lifestyle. Diet and stress need to be monitored, and regular health checkups give you the confidence to stay better. Try following the steps below:

1. Quit smoking totally as it really kills. The carbon particles block the filters in the lungs gradually and permanently, and limit the lungs' capacities to inhale and filter and absorb oxygen.

2. If you drink, then do it socially and rarely. Long term alcohol consumption increases obesity and fat, and is another blood diluting agent. However, a low consumption helps by melting some LDL cholesterol and fat too.

3. Exercise everyday. You need not do a strength training essentially. Simple, brisk walking, free hand exercising, etc. will do, but the body must get a warm up everyday.

4. Go for a regular heart checkup in intervals of 6 months or 1 year. This will tell you the condition, the cholesterol deposition, the blood pressure and the overall blood circulation.

5. Avoid junk and oily food, and things that build up cholesterol and fat in the body.

When you have just experienced a cardiac arrest-

When you have just experienced a cardiac arrest, you should seek help from a family member using the CPR technique, or a defibrillator. In both cases, the know-how to use the techniques and instruments is a must. Hence, if you know that you have a coronary heart disease and are prone to a sudden cardiac arrest, you must train a member in the family to use these immediate treatments, while they call the doctor.