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This is all fine and great…but what does it all mean? Well, think of it this way; your blood pressure is the amount of force that your blood is exerting on your blood vessel walls as it passes through. For those who have high blood pressure, extreme force on the vessel walls can eventually cause damage to your heart and other organs of your body. It can accelerate the rate at which plaque on arterial walls can build up which can lead to heart disease and can be lethal. High blood pressure is the cause of High blood pressures, strokes, coronary artery disease, and congestive heart failure. Not only does the force of the blood pressure cause damage to your heart, but it forces it to work harder to keep up with the pressure. This can strain your heart over time.
High blood pressure can also cause damage to your kidneys, bones (high blood pressure can leach calcium from your bones causing Osteoporosis), extremities (due to poor circulation), eyes, brain, and sexual drive.
You can lower your blood pressure by losing weight, exercising regularly, decreasing your sodium intake, quitting smoking, decreasing your cholesterol levels, cutting out alcohol from your diet, decreasing your stress, and increasing your calcium and potassium intake. Those who have high blood pressure often times also have diabetes, both of which can be controlled by the aforementioned list.
So, remember when you were a kid and you used to go to the store with mom just so you could play on the blood pressure reader, and because you got to pick out a treat of course…find that blood pressure reader again and have a seat. Check out your levels and determine if you are putting yourself at risk for heart disease, among other things.