諾魯月報第三十七版-營養專欄 Control Your Blood Pressure－My Way, My Life

April 2013
諾魯月報-第三十七版封面

The Nutrition Corner

Control Your Blood Pressure

7th April, World Health Day, on which is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the founding of World Health Organization in 1948. Each year a theme is selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of public health concern in the world. However, the theme for 2013 is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is a measure of the pressure or force of blood against the walls of your blood vessels. The top number represents the pressure when your heart contracts and pushes blood out (systolic) and the bottom number is the lowest pressure when the heart relaxes between beats (diastolic). Blood pressure that is consistently more than 140/90 mm Hg will be considered as high blood pressure. Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg. If your blood pressure is between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg, you might have pre-hypertension, which is more likely to develop into high blood pressure.

High blood pressure also known as raised blood pressure or hypertension, which increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes (cardiovascular diseases) and kidney diseases. Cardiovascular disease, also heart disease, is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. Over time, high blood pressure can damage blood vessel walls and cause scarring that promotes the build-up of fatty plaque. This build-up can narrow and eventually block blood vessels. It also strains the heart and eventually weakens it. Very high blood pressure can cause blood vessels in the brain to burst resulting in a stroke. If the blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, they may stop removing wastes and extra fluid from the body. The extra fluid in the blood vessels may then raise blood pressure even more and leading kidney diseases eventually.

As the world’s population ages and grows, unhealthy behaviors, such as an unbalanced diet, a lack of physical activity, smoking, harmful use of alcohol together with stressful lifestyles, all increase the chances of developing high blood pressure. All regions of the world are affected. However, high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable. The risk of developing high blood pressure can be reduced by:

Reducing salt intake
Eating a balanced diet
Avoiding harmful use of alcohol and tobacco
Taking regular physical activity
Maintaining a healthy body weight

In additional to the above, the key of hypertensive prevention is early detection, so getting your blood pressure checked regularly is very important. If necessary, take immediate steps to lower and control your risk of developing high blood pressure. Just visit NAOERO Public Health Centre and have your blood pressure measured.