What condition do you know of that affects one in three South African adults and is responsible for one in two strokes and two in every five heart attacks, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa?
Yes, you guessed right – high blood pressure.
How is it possible that our incredibly well-designed body can go wrong in such a high percentage of people in our population? It turns out there is much we can do to influence this state.
What is blood pressure?
The pumping action of the heart creates pressure which drives life-giving blood around the 100 000km of blood vessels, vastly more complex than the water reticulation system of a large city.
However, if all the blood vessels were fully open, the pressure would be too low to perfuse the body cells.
Muscles lining these blood vessels are directed via nerves and hormones to open or restrict blood to certain areas, through highly complex mechanisms.
Endothelial cells lining the blood vessels not only provide a super smooth surface to enable uninterrupted flow of blood but also produce nitric oxide which is a powerful relaxant of blood vessels.
One of the main precursors of nitric oxide comes from our diet – particularly green leafy vegetables, carrots and beetroot, among others.
Contributing factors to high blood pressure include being overweight, eating too much salt, and too little potassium (mostly obtained from fruits and vegetables), lack of exercise, drinking too much alcohol and caffeine-based beverages, smoking, and uncontrolled stress.
Certain diseases and medications can bring on high blood pressure – like kidney disease, diabetes, sleep apnoea, certain hormonal problems, and auto-immune conditions; medications like contraceptive pills, steroids, anti-inflammatory pain killers, liquorice liquorice-containing medicines are some of these.
The most researched lifestyle intervention is the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan.
It promotes eating vegetables, fruits and whole grains; low-fat dairy, fish, poultry, beans, nuts and vegetable oils; cutting down on saturated fats such as found in meats, and tropical oils; and limiting sugar-sweetened beverages. Results show that beneficial effects can already be measured within one week.
As powerful as lifestyle behaviours are in restoring health, and are recommended in the national guidelines for hypertension management, it is good to work with your doctor to monitor your condition, and if necessary to use medications.
Dr Dave Glass
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