High Blood Pressure Prevention Day

90% of the risk of essential hypertension can be reduced by more than 40% through daily behavioral adjustments. There is no need to wait for dizziness and headaches or red blood in the physical examination report to start worrying. Changing a few small habits now can completely keep high blood pressure at bay.

Last month, I was doing a free clinic in the community and met a 32-year-old Internet programmer. He sat down and took a blood pressure test, which shot up to 145/95mmHg, which is the level of diagnosed hypertension. He himself was still confused. He said that last year's physical examination was still a normal high value of 130/85. How could he become a patient in just one year? I flipped through the life record sheet he filled out: Takeaways were heavy on salt and oil every day, and he had at least three late-night snacks a week. It was common to stay up late to catch up on projects. He could lie down for 12 hours without getting up on weekends. He rarely drank water. He relied on milk tea and cola to stay alive - do you think this blood pressure can be avoided?

When it comes to preventing high blood pressure, everyone’s first reaction is to eat less salt. This is true, but it is not entirely correct. There has always been a saying in academic circles that "salt-sensitive people" account for about 30% to 50% of the total population. If these people eat too much salt, their blood pressure will rise particularly significantly, but the rest of the people don't seem to have that much of a reaction to salt? But to be honest, whether you are sensitive or not, there is no harm in eating less than 5 grams of salt per day (about the amount of a beer cap). Oh, by the way, don’t just focus on the salt used in cooking. The invisible salt in soy sauce, oyster sauce, pickles, and even bread and biscuits is the hardest hit area. There used to be an old man who always said he didn’t add salt in his cooking, but he ended up eating fermented bean curd every time, and his blood pressure still couldn’t come down. There is also low-sodium salt that has been very popular recently. It is indeed friendly to healthy people, but people with renal insufficiency must not touch it. The risk of hyperkalemia is no joke. This is also a point that many doctors have repeatedly emphasized. Don’t blindly follow the trend of changing salt.

Some people also ask, is it necessary to run 5 kilometers a day and go to the gym to prevent high blood pressure? Not really. A previous study published by The Lancet said that just 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week is enough. What is moderate-intensity exercise? It means that you are a little out of breath when walking, but you can still talk normally, walk one extra stop on the subway after get off work, go for a half-hour walk with your family after dinner, or even dance in the square for 20 minutes. I met an aunt who had bad knees before and couldn't run or jump. So she walked slowly around the community for 40 minutes every day, and combined with salt control, her blood pressure dropped from the critical value of 139/89 to 126/79 in three months. The effect is much better than that of many people who practice blindly. Of course, if you have good physical fitness and are willing to do strength training and running, there is no problem, but don’t try hard to “reach the standard”, which may injure your joints but outweigh the gain.

Don’t underestimate the ring of flesh around your waist. During my previous follow-up, I found that the risk of hypertension for men with a waist circumference of over 90cm and for women over 85cm is more than 2.5 times that of people with normal waist circumferences. There is a 40-year-old brother who used to weigh 180 pounds and his blood pressure has been hovering around 140. The doctor said that if it gets higher, he needs to take medicine. He gritted his teeth and lost 16 pounds in three months. When the blood pressure was measured again, it dropped directly to 128/82. Even he himself did not expect the effect to be so obvious. But don’t blindly go on a diet to lose weight, let alone take internet-famous anti-hypertensive and weight-loss pills. Not only will they damage your liver and kidneys, your blood pressure will rise faster when you rebound.

Many elders always say, "If I don't have dizziness, I don't have high blood pressure." This has deceived many people. There are basically no obvious symptoms in the early stages of essential hypertension. By the time you feel headache, dizziness, or chest tightness, irreversible damage to blood vessels and kidneys may have occurred. So whether you feel it or not, you should check your blood pressure at least twice a year over the age of 30. If you have a family history of high blood pressure, it is best to buy an upper-arm electronic blood pressure monitor and measure it once a week. It is more effective than any health care product. Oh, by the way, don’t believe the claims that drinking red wine softens blood vessels or that antihypertensive tea can cure high blood pressure. An aunt spent more than 20,000 yuan to buy a so-called “pure natural antihypertensive tea”. After drinking it for three months, her blood pressure rose to 150. When she looked at the ingredient list, she found that it was simply filled with cheap antihypertensive drugs, which was a trap. Regular health care products can at best play a supporting role, but they absolutely cannot replace life adjustments, let alone formal treatment.

In fact, today's Hypertension Prevention Day does not mean that everyone should suddenly change their lifestyle, cut off salt and exercise crazily, but they will not be able to persist. When you cook today, add less salt by half a spoon. When ordering takeout, make a note of "less salt and less sauce." When you get off work, you take one less stop to walk back. If you don't check your phone for 20 minutes before going to bed, you can go to bed earlier. These small and inconspicuous changes, when accumulated, are the best barrier between you and high blood pressure. After all, your body is your own, so eating more snacks is better than taking medicine every day, right?