What should you do if you have high blood pressure?
Eight-character motto to stay away from high blood pressure: Low salt, lose weight, reduce stress, limit alcohol, Guo Jizhen, chief physician of the Hypertension Department of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital ● In our country, 27.2% of people aged 35-74 have high blood pressure, that is, they have More than 100 million people are threatened by hypertension.
●Hypertension is not only an independent disease, but also a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, renal failure and other diseases. ●The prevalence of hypertension is rising rapidly: the prevalence of hypertension was 5.11% in the 1950s, 7.73% in the 1970s, and 13.6% in the 1990s.
In the past ten years, the prevalence of hypertension in adults has increased from 20.2% to 28.6% in men and from 9.1% to 25.8% in women. ●While the number of patients with hypertension in our country is "rising", the prevalence of hypertension in Japan, which is also of Asian descent, has been declining year by year in the past half century - from 1956 to 1997, the average systolic blood pressure Gradually decrease 15 mmHg.
In 2002, there were nearly 18,000 supercentenarians in Japan, and the average life expectancy of women reached 87.6 years. Misconception Misunderstanding 1: High blood pressure is all hereditary. There is nothing you can do about it. When I went to the outpatient clinic, I found that many patients with high blood pressure sighed when asked about their condition: "My father (mother) has high blood pressure. No." Method."
It seems that this disease is entirely due to genetic factors and is inevitable. In fact, it is very wrong to blame all the causes of your illness on your ancestors.
Is there a genetic factor in high blood pressure? some. If both parents have normal blood pressure, the probability of their children suffering from hypertension is 3%. If one parent has hypertension, the incidence rate of the children is 25%. If both parents have hypertension, the incidence rate of the children is 45%-55%.
However, hypertension is different from those classic genetic diseases, such as hemophilia, polycystic kidney disease, etc. In other words, some of the descendants of hypertensive patients are prone to the disease, which is called genetic variation.
But even these people may not 100% develop high blood pressure. This is because hypertension is affected by genetic factors on the one hand, and environmental factors on the other hand, including living habits, social factors, climate, etc., which play a more important role in the onset of hypertension than genetic factors.
Therefore, hypertension is also called a lifestyle-related disease. Therefore, getting rid of the shadow of high blood pressure depends largely on yourself.
I suggest you remember this picture: The World Health Organization announced to the world in 1991: 60% of an individual’s health and life span depend on themselves, 15% on genetics, and 10% on social factors. 8% depends on medical conditions and 7% depends on climate effects. As long as we follow the four cornerstones of a reasonable diet, moderate exercise, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, and psychological balance, we can avoid high blood pressure and grow healthy until old age.
Myth 2: High blood pressure is a stubborn disease that cannot be reduced. I often encounter patients like this who always complain: "I have had high blood pressure for several years. I have been taking care of it, but it cannot be reduced." Come down. You are really stubborn.”
Many patients feel that they have stubborn hypertension and cannot control it. They are very discouraged and some simply let it go. Is this idea correct? First, we need to understand what “refractory hypertension” is.
We say that taking full doses of three or more antihypertensive drugs with different mechanisms of action (must include diuretics) and the blood pressure is still ≥140/90mmHg is called resistant hypertension. An international European study on optimal treatment of hypertension was conducted in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.
It is a comprehensive treatment and follow-up of 18,000 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. If one drug is not enough, two drugs are used, and four drugs are used. It is found that the blood pressure cannot be lowered. It's 7%. It can be seen that there are only a very small number of patients with refractory hypertension.
So why are some high blood pressure so "stubborn"? In fact, about 50% to 70% of patients with "resistant hypertension" do not follow the doctor's advice, but eat and drink intermittently, fishing for three days and drying nets for two days. I told him to take medicine three times a day, but he cut corners and only took it once. He stopped taking it after seeing that his blood pressure was normal. He waited until he felt dizzy before taking medicine again, "just improvising."
"High blood pressure medicines have side effects!" Many patients have this mentality. Hypertension drugs do cause side effects such as bradycardia, hypokalemia, swollen feet, and cough.
But I want to say that if hypertension is not controlled and treated, it will develop into stroke, myocardial infarction, and uremia. The side effects of taking medicine pale in comparison to the consequences of not taking medicine.
To take a step back, if the patient has serious discomfort, the doctor can alleviate it by changing the dressing. If hypertension is not controlled in the early stages, it will become more difficult to control in the later stages. At this time, the dosage required to lower blood pressure will be larger, and the damage to liver and kidney function and adverse reactions will be greater.
Therefore, I advise everyone not to lose more because of the small gain, but to take medicine early and long-term, and take it for life. Hypertension is a chronic disease, so there must be good communication and close cooperation between patients and doctors.
After the doctor prescribes the medicine, there must be a period of observation to see whether the dose is right and whether the efficacy is achieved. This will take several weeks or even months. If the patient does not cooperate and has no long-term commitment, he will always change hospitals and have to see the doctor again, which is very detrimental to the treatment.
Living standards: low salt standard: for a family of three, 250 grams of salt and 500 ml of soy sauce for one month. Let’s analyze the dietary characteristics of the Japanese: From the post-World War II period to 1998, life has improved significantly. It used to be salted fish and dried pickles, but now it’s bland sushi, white radish, and ginger... The average salt intake has dropped from 29 grams per person per day. to 10 grams.
Did you find it? Reduced salt intake is a major reason for the decline in the prevalence of hypertension in Japan. If you eat too much salt, your blood pressure will rise, which is called salt sensitivity.
About a quarter of normal people are salt-sensitive, and about half of patients with hypertension are salt-sensitive. Among the elderly, there are more salt-sensitive people. In our country, the average daily intake of salt per person in the northeastern region, where hypertension is high, is 12-18 grams, which is significantly higher than the 7-8 grams in the south.
The WHO (World Health Organization) recommendation is that each person’s daily salt intake should be less than 6 grams. Looking at our eating habits, we often eat porridge, steamed buns, pickles or fermented bean curd for breakfast.
A single piece of red fermented bean curd contains 5 grams of salt, and a small dish of mustard or pickles (50 grams) contains 4 grams of salt. A breakfast has already reached the standard for the day. We still have the habit of putting MSG in our dishes. One gram of MSG contains 0.5 grams of salt.
In addition, many vegetables, beans, dried shrimps, and seaweed.
What should I do if my blood pressure is high?
If high blood pressure is detected during a physical examination, you can proceed in two steps: 1. First, measure the blood pressure for several days in a row. It is best to measure in a quiet state. If the blood pressure is indeed high (slightly) > or =140/90), then please go to the cardiovascular department for consultation. The doctor may remind you to exercise more, eat a light diet, limit sodium intake appropriately, avoid overeating, eat more fruits and vegetables, and those who are overweight should Control your weight through exercise and diet.
2. If the measured blood pressure is higher than 140/90 (150/100, 150/90, 140/100, 130/100, etc.), please take antihypertensive medication under the guidance of a cardiovascular physician Do not take medicine by yourself. This is very important. The treatment of high blood pressure requires a protracted battle. Generally speaking, you need to take medicine for life. Please don’t be polite about this. In order to live a happy and healthy life, you must persist no matter what. Ah, don't trust charlatans. I wish you health and happiness! .