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High blood pressure can be caused by any number of factors in a
person’s life or by many factors all adding together. However, the hard
truth is that if you don’t control your blood pressure, it can lead to
many serious medical conditions, including heart attack and stroke. By
understanding the causes of high blood pressure, you can learn how to
prevent your levels from exceeding the normal range and therefore
promote in yourself and your family a healthier overall lifestyle.
One of the major causes of high blood pressure is cholesterol. In most
cases, a person with higher than normal cholesterol levels will also
suffer from high blood pressure. This is due to the fatty deposits left
on the artery walls from the cholesterol in your blood stream. The body
actually needs no cholesterol, since it produces enough on its own, but
the foods we eat often introduce more into our body. When no more can
be absorbed into the blood stream, the cells deposit fat onto the walls
of the arteries. This fat turns to a hard plaque, making our blood
vessels smaller and smaller over time. The same amount of blood needs
to flow through these smaller spaces, creating a higher blood pressure.
An unhealthy diet also causes high blood pressure in another way. When
there is too much sugar in the blood stream. Glucose, or blood sugar,
increases due to diabetes, in which the body does not produce the
chemical that regulates blood sugar. Ingesting food high in sugar, such
as most desserts, can also cause your blood sugar to increase, as can
stress, hormone levels, and infection. When there is more glucose in
the blood stream, your blood is essentially thicker, and harder to push
through your arteries and veins, creating a higher blood pressure.
High blood pressure does not only come from an unhealthy diet, but can
also occur due to drug intake as well. People who drink alcohol
excessively, for example, increase their risk greatly of having high
blood pressure. Caffeine is another drug that is proven to raise blood
pressure, especially in combination with nicotine, which is found in
cigarettes. Many other narcotics, especially those that are illegal in
the United States, have also been show to increase your blood pressure.
Genetics is a final factor in the high blood pressure battle. Some
estimate that 30% of high blood pressure cases can be attributed, at
least in part, to genetics. We do not have any control over our
genes—genetics refers to the coding used in our bodies that produces
everything from the color of our eyes to our height to the ability we
have (or do not have) to curl our tongues. We get this genetic make-up
from our parents, and so there is nothing we can do to stop ourselves
from having a “high blood pressure” risk when we are born. However, we
can prevent genetics from playing a major role be overall living a
healthy life. By taking steps to reduce our high blood pressure, we can
create a better future for our bodies, whether our parents suffered
from high blood pressure or not. Living this healthier lifestyle,
including eating a low-cholesterol diet, watching our sugar intake, and
introducing less drugs into our bodies can help us overcome high blood
pressure. |