Low Blood Pressure

Low blood pressure or hypotension happens when the pressure that pushes our blood through our arteries becomes abnormally low. It is usually defined by a systolic of less than 90 and diastolic of below 60 (blood pressure of 90/60). Unlike high blood pressure however, low blood pressure isn't considered a disease but more of a state or temporary condition.


Often, low blood pressure is a result of some sort of trauma or shock, but other causes include anemia, hormonal changes and medication. And the most common effects of low blood pressure is dizziness and possibly fainting. Though fatigue, shortness of breath and headaches are also known to happen.


Just as high blood pressure is detrimental to our health, having low blood pressure can also be dangerous. With low blood pressure, there is the possibility of not getting enough blood to all our vital organs, thus, depriving them of oxygen and other nutrients that are carried in our bloodstream. When this happens, damage to our organs can occur.

High Blood Pressure and Kidney Damage

Our kidneys are tiny bean shaped organs located on our lower back. Their main job is to filter all the waste products and excess fluids from our bodies.


Our kidneys are made up of thin blood vessels that move blood into our kidneys to keep them healthy.


When you have high blood pressure, the excessive force exerted on all the blood vessels in our bodies can damage them. In the case of our kidneys, prolonged states of high blood pressure can damage these vessels by causing them to narrow and harden.


Eventually, when there is enough damage made to the blood vessels, blood is not able to cross through them. Without enough blood supply going to the kidney, it will get damaged and slowly fail.

How to Lower High Blood Pressure

With close to a quarter of all adults having high blood pressure, it is important to be aware of your blood pressure levels, by having it regularly monitored at home or by your doctor when you have your regular checkups.

That being said, here are 3 ways you can do to help lower your blood pressure.


Lose Weight (if you are overweight)

How do you know if you are overweight? Take a look at a BMI (body mass index) chart like the one we have below.

How to Read the Chart:
1. On the left column look for your height in inches.
2. When you find your height, scan that row slowly to the right until you get to your weight in lbs.
3. Once you get to your weight, take note of the number in the BMI row, this is your BMI, and above the BMI number the chart will tell you if you are in the normal weight range, overweight, obese, or extremely obese.
4. If your weight is less than the lowest weights in the chart, this means that you are underweight.

The target goal would be to have a BMI between 19 to 24.


Exercise

Exercise has been proven to be one of the best ways to lower high blood pressure. Studies have shown that even walking 30 minutes a day improves blood pressure.


Reduce the amount of salt in your diet

Sodium in our food is by far one of the biggest causes of high blood pressure. A lot of it having to with the increase of junk food variety and the rise of fast food. Take into consideration that the average person's normal sodium intake requirement is around 1,500 mg per day, and a Big Mac at McDonald's has 1,000 mg of sodium. If you top that off with an order of large fries, you add another 360 mg of sodium.

Now, the guidelines state that for the average American, you should limit your sodium intake to 2,300 mg, and if you are above the age of 51, 1,500 mg. On average however, the average American gets about 3,400 mg of sodium daily. This is a reason for the rise in high blood pressure.

Having High Blood Pressure Can Damage Your Eyes

If you have high blood pressure, it is important that you have your eyes checked out by an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) regularly. The reason is one of the possible complications of high blood pressure is something called hypertensive retinopathy.

Hypertensive retinopathy, refers to damage to the retina due to persistent high blood pressure. The word hypertensive means related to high blood pressure or hypertension, and retinopathy refers to damage to the retina.

The retina, located in the back part of the eye, plays a very important role in our vision. It functions much like film in a camera, capturing all the images that we see so that our brain will be able to interpret the objects.

The Human Eye

When you have hypertension, blood vessels in the retina damage are damaged by the high pressure exerted on the vessel walls. Left untreated, this lead to blurry vision and permanent damage.


Below we have images of a normal retina on the left and a retina with hypertensive retinopathy.

Normal retina (left) compared with retina suffering from hypertensive retinopathy (right)

Initially flaming hemorrhages and cotton spots will appear. Then as hypertensive retinopathy progresses, hard exudates will appear around the macula causing visual impairment.


The good news is, when blood pressure is controlled, hypertensive retinopathy goes away.

9 Things That Put You at Risk for High Blood Pressure

1. Family History
People who have family members with high blood pressure have greater chances of having it in the future.


2. Being Overweight
People who weigh more need more blood pumped into their organs to make them work properly. As more blood circulated through your system, more pressure is exerted on your arteries. For this reason, we are advised to keep a healthy weight.


3. Physical Inactivity
The normal person has a heart rate ranging from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Athletes have lower heart rates indicating better heart function. When a person is physically inactive, their heart rates tend to be on the higher range. Higher heart rates mean that our heart have to work harder to circulate blood throughout our bodies, thus, exerting more force to our arteries. This eventually causes high blood pressure.


4. Ethnicity
African Americans are more prone to high blood pressure, while Asians are at lower risk


5. Stress
Stress temporarily increases our blood pressure. However, being at constant states of stress eventually increases the risk of becoming hypertensive.


6.To o much salt in diet
Have you ever noticed that after a high sodium meal, you tend to be bloated? This is because sodium adds fluids into our blood by pulling it out of our tissues. When this happens, the volume of our blood increases, which results in our heart having to pump harder.


7. Smoking
Cigarettes contain ingredients, specifically tobacco, that cause our arteries to narrow. This increases the pressure exerted on our artery walls leading to high blood pressure.


8. Drinking too much alcohol
It has been shown that having more than two drinks a day increases your chances of elevated blood pressure.


9. Age
As we age, our risk of getting high blood pressure increases. This is mostly due to the hardening of our arteries as we age. Also, men are more prone to high blood pressure when they get to middle age. For women, their risk increases when they reach menopause.

High Blood Pressure Symptoms

In most people, high blood pressure does not show any symptoms. This is why it is important to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis.


However, when blood pressure reaches very high levels (systolic of over 180, or diastolic above 100), some people may experience dizziness, shortness of breath and nosebleeds.


The good thing about blood pressure is that it is very easy to have it tested. Unlike other health exams where you need to go to a lab and have your blood drawn or use expensive machines, blood pressure can be checked by a simple blood pressure monitor.

Many people have an electronic blood pressure monitor at home. You can also visit your school clinic or local community health center to have your blood pressure checked. 

Causes of High Blood Pressure

The causes of high blood pressure fall into two categories, primary and secondary hypertension.

Primary Hypertension

For most people, the cause of hypertension cannot be determined and takes many years to develop. This is called primary hypertension.

There are however, certain risk factors that have been shown to be linked to high blood pressure. These include:

• Family history of high blood pressure
• Being overweight
• Race
• Age
• Stress
• Being a Smoker
• Being sedentary and lack of physical activity
• High salt intake
• Heavy drinking (alcohol)

Most of the causes are genetic or lifestyle related.

Secondary Hypertension

In secondary hypertension, the cause of high blood pressure is known. Often times, it is caused by an underlying condition like:

• kidney disease
• pregnancy
• adrenal gland tumors
• certain medications like birth control pills and cough medication
• illegal drugs