Prevention

Much of the disease burden of high blood pressure is experienced by people who are not labeled as hypertensive. Consequently population strategies are required to reduce the consequences of high blood pressure and reduce the need for antihypertensive drug therapy. Lifestyle changes are recommended to lower blood pressure, before starting drug therapy.

Effective lifestyle modification may lower blood pressure as much an individual anti-hypertensive drug. Combinations of two or more lifestyle modifications can achieve even better results. Modern Hypertension Society proposed the following lifestyle changes for the primary prevention of hypertension:

Maintain normal body weight. 

A substantial body of evidence from observational studies documents that body weight is directly associated with blood pressure and that excess body fat predisposes to increased blood pressure and hypertension. In a meta analysis of available studies, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions associated with an average weight loss of 5.1 kg were 4.4 and 3.6 mmHg, respectively. In a further subgroup analysis, blood pressure reductions were similar for non-hypertensive and hypertensive individuals, but were greater in those who lost more weight.

BMI (body mass index) is a reliable indicator of total body fat, which is related to a person's body fat based on his or her height and weight. The score is valid for both men and women, but it may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build. It may also underestimate body fat in older people and others who have lost muscle mass. By using BMI formula you can easily measure your current status.

Burn your calories and practice physical exercise.

Lack of physical fitness is a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality independent of blood pressure and other risk factors. A recent analysis of randomized controlled trials concluded that dynamic aerobic endurance training reduces resting systolic and diastolic blood pressures by 3.0/2.4 mmHg, and daytime ambulatory blood pressure by 3.3/3.5 mmHg. The reduction in resting blood pressure was more pronounced in the hypertensive group (26.9/24.9 mmHg) than in the nor-motensive one (21.9/21.6 mmHg). Even moderate levels of exercise lowered blood pressure, and this type of training also reduced body weight, body fat and waist circumference, and increased insulin sensitivity and HDL-cholesterol levels.

Reduce screen time.

One reason people get less exercise these days is because of an increase in "screen time" the amount of time spent watching TV, looking at the computer, or playing video games. Limit recreational screen time to less than 2 hours per day. If you're with friends at the mall, you're getting more exercise than if you're IMing them from your room.

Say no to smoking.

Smoking causes an acute increase in blood pressure and heart rate, persisting for more than 15 minutes after smoking one cigarette. The mechanism is likely to be a stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system at central level and at nerve endings, which is responsible for an increase in plasma catecholamines parallel to the blood pressure increase. Paradoxically, several epidemiological studies have found that blood pressure levels among cigarette smokers were the same as, or lower than, those in non-smokers. However, studies using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring have shown that both untreated hypertensive and normotensive smokers present higher daily blood pressure values than non-smokers, the increase being particularly pronounced in heavy smokers.

Increase in fruit and vegetable intake.

Fruits and vegetable are about more than just vitamins and minerals. They're also packed with fiber, which means they fill you up. And when you fill up on fruits and vegetable, you're less likely to overeat when it comes to high-calorie foods like chips or cookies.

Don't skip breakfast.

Breakfast kick-starts your metabolism, burning calories from the get-go and giving you energy to do more during the day. People who skip breakfast often feel so hungry that they eat more later on. So they get more calories than they would have if they ate breakfast. In fact, people who skip breakfast tend to have higher BMIs than people who eat breakfast.