A Health Wake-Up Call

Joining a gym is more than just a lifestyle choice: it could be the health wake-up call you need.

When I joined the gym my aim was to build up my stamina, lose some weight and give some sort of routine to my days. I work from home on a freelance basis, so it's very easy to lose track of time. It turned out joining the gym was a wake-up call for me, health-wise.

While I was signing up as a member, my blood pressure was taken a few times and I was told that perhaps I should go to see a doctor - the reading was rather high. My blood pressure readings have usually been low for the past 15 years at least, so this was a shock to me. I had only moved to Melbourne the year before and had not had a reason to see a doctor so, as a result, hadn't checked my BP for over a year.

Soon after, I found a doctor who monitored my blood pressure for a few days before deciding to put me on medication. She couldn't find any obvious reason for it being high, having done the essential blood tests. When I told her that I had just joined a gym, she encouraged me to use it as often as possible and to get fitter and healthier, but not to overdo it, because of my high blood pressure.

As a result I've made some changes to my diet and eat a lot more healthily, paying attention to my salt intake especially. If I can't make it to the gym, I try to squeeze in some other form of exercise, such as yoga or a walk along the beach. The fact that I hadn't displayed any symptoms of having high blood pressure scared me a little and I try not to think of what would have happened if I hadn't joined the gym and got a diagnosis.

I have to admit that I don't go to the gym as often as I should, as I do travel quite frequently and sometimes get too bogged down with work, but I'm glad I took that first step towards a healthier lifestyle.

The exercise that I enjoy the most is the stationery bicycle. I always do a full workout on it and it has become a lot easier and less tiring for me the more I use it.

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Blood Pressure Control Is Health Control

If you have been told that your blood pressure is too high (that is, that you have hypertension), then what you were actually being told was that your lifestyle is not particularly healthy. This is because, unless your hypertension has come about because of ethnicity, age, sleeplessness or medication, you are doing something wrong in your daily life.

Blood pressure control for most people means initiating lifestyle alterations for the better or taking tablets for life. If you have hypertension but you cannot go to see your medical doctor as often as you would like, you could always buy a home blood pressure monitor and keep an eye on your blood pressure yourself.

The best sort to buy is an automatic digital monitor with a self-inflating cuff. It should also have a pulse monitor and several memories, although you can always use good old-fashioned pen and paper. They are not expensive any more and should cost between $30 and $100.

Some have a lifetime warranty and are as accurate as your GP's sphygmomanometer, which is the gold standard of blood pressure monitors. You should take your readings at the same time every day (or two or three times a day at the same times) and make a record of it or them. In this fashion you can compare your progress (or lack of it).

The first thing to do is quit smoking (if you smoke, obviously) and then cut down on heavy drinking sessions, if you do that). Doing that will improve your general health whether you have high arterial pressures or not.

The next thing to do is to reduce your weight, if you are overweight by dieting and exercise. If you are not overweight, you will still have to increase your degree of exercise and change your diet for the following reasons. Exercise decreases your arterial pressures and an excessive amount of salt (also called sodium) will raise your blood pressure.

So, whichever way you look at it, you will need to exercise more and take on a low-sodium diet. One of the ways of reducing sodium in your diet is by eating fresh fruit and vegetables and give up eating canned and other fast foods, which are stuffed with salt.

These lifestyle changes are not easy, so if you have to take some of them on board, consider getting help. For instance, you could use patches to help you quit smoking. You could visit the pub less frequently or simply go there later in the evening. You could ask your spouse to go on the diet as well or you could join a support group on or off line.

There really are plenty of resources out there to help you circumvent hypertension, but if you really cannot be bothered, then pop along to your physician's and get your first batch or high blood pressure tablets and be certain to make a repeat appointment, because you will be going back and forth for the remainder of your life.

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Vitamin D Deficiency - Is Your Blood Pressure High?

blood pressure vitamin

Only recently have doctors started to recommend vitamin d supplements to their patients. Generally many family physicians are not in favor of supplementation; however with some recent research on high blood pressure and heart health there is a trend toward supplementing vitamin d in your diet.

So what exactly does vitamin d do to prevent high blood pressure and take care of your heart?

Apparently this vitamin act acts as hormone.

It causes the "smooth" muscles in your body to relax and stay flexible. This is important because both your heart and arteries are made with smooth muscle.

This is different to "skeletal" muscle that makes up the muscles in your arms and legs.

In your arteries the smooth muscle is the middle layer. It controls blood flow by contracting and relaxing. If there is a vitamin d deficiency the artery stays contracted and this leads to high blood pressure.

As you and I age, one of the natural processes in the body is for the arteries to harden. This is a degenerative change. Lack of vitamin d in the diet speeds this process up and leads to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and heart attack.

Now that being said, if you do have high blood pressure, this is something you want to address with your family doctor.

Now family doctors are testing for vitamin d deficiency in your yearly blood tests along with blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol levels. If you are low, DO NOT WORRY, there are several nutritional solutions.

Supplementation:

Vitamin d supplementation is one solution. The general recommendations:

-Younger than 50: 5 micrograms / 200IU (International Units)
-50-70 years old: 10 micrograms / 400IU
-More than 70 Years old: 15 micrograms / 600IU

Nutritional Solutions:

-Salmon 4oz: 400IU
-Milk 1cup: 50-75IU
-Tuna 3oz: 200IU
-Eggs: 20IU each

Also try to get in the sun for at least 10 minutes a day. If you are elderly, overweight (obese) and are limited to sun exposure, you "may" be at risk. It is important to take a good look at the foods you eat and get your vitamin d levels checked.

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