Tag: Arteries

All about Blood Pressure

What is blood pressure? Blood pressure is the force of your blood against your artery walls. When you have your blood pressure checked the reading has two numbers; one on top and one on bottom.

The top number is your systolic pressure. This is the force of your blood in your arteries when your heart beats. The bottom number is your diastolic pressure. This is the force of your blood in your arteries when your heart relaxes in-between beats.

Normal blood pressure would be a reading of 120/80 or lower. High blood pressure would be a reading of 140/90 or higher. If you have high blood pressure you are at a greater risk of a stroke or heart and kidney disease.

Many things can cause high blood pressure including physical inactivity, tobacco and alcohol use, stress and your diet. These are only a few things. Certain medical conditions and medications can also cause high blood pressure.

High blood pressure can cause your body to have certain effects. For instance it can cause a stroke. The high pressure can cause a weakened blood vessel to break causing it to bleed into the brain; thus leaving you with a stroke.

High blood pressure can also sometimes cause your blood vessels in your eyes to bleed or burst. If this happens your vision will be blurred or impaired and might even result in blindness. Another reason it is best to keep control on your blood pressure.

Along with a stroke or kidney disease high blood pressure can also cause a heart attack. Your arteries are what bring blood carrying oxygen to your heart muscle. If your heart is not getting enough oxygen you will experience chest pain. If the blood flow is blocked as well you will experience a heart attack.

Congestive Heart Failure is very common among people with high blood pressure. This is a very serious condition where your heart cannot pump enough blood to supply the needs of your body. It is never too late to start taking control of your health starting with your blood pressure.

Anyone can develop high blood pressure, even children. It is more common for African Americans to develop it. Many Americans will develop high blood pressure as they age but that doesn’t mean it is healthy.

Obesity plays a role in high blood pressure. If you are over weight you are at a higher risk of having high blood pressure as well as a stroke or heart disease. Try to lose at least ten pounds and this will help lower your blood pressure significantly.

Eating a healthy diet is a great way to lower or control your blood pressure. Limit your intake of salt and sodium and introduce more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. Once you establish your healthy diet you will have less worry of developing high blood pressure.

You should always have your blood pressure checked at your regular doctor visits. If you have high blood pressure and are concerned you can easily monitor from home. If you do this you want to have your doctor look at your home monitoring device to help ensure it is effective and you are operating it correctly.

Keep track of your blood pressure readings so you can see what is helping and what isn’t. Sometimes regular lifestyle changes alone won’t help as much as they would combined with blood pressure medication. Your doctor will be able to tell you what the best option for your needs would be.

Age And Cholesterol-Key Factors For Health Change

Many people think that cholesterol is bad for you… period. But that is inaccurate. The truth is that you need this substance and it is produced in your body. What is a problem is that age and cholesterol both tend to go up.

That means that as you age, you naturally tend to see your cholesterol levels go up. That trend is especially true with women.

Age and cholesterol can be a problem for men and women but post menopausal women might be at higher risk.

Prior to menopause, women tend to have lower LDL, or bad cholesterol levels then men of the same age, but after menopause women’s LDL levels often go higher.

You have both good, HDL, and bad, LDL, cholesterol in your body. The trick is to keep the good cholesterol at high levels and the bad cholesterol at low levels.

HDL tends to act as a cleaner and will keep your arteries flushed out. That is why it is so important to keep your levels balanced.

No matter what your age, or gender, there are many things you can do to make sure you keep your cholesterol levels in balance and at a healthy level.

It isn’t rocket science and it isn’t new but it is important. You also need to talk to your doctor.

You need to find out what your current levels are so you know what the appropriate course of action will be.

Once you’ve talked to your doctor, you can also start implementing some of these tips:

1. Eat better. All you need to do is stop eating so many foods that are high fat. Things like beef, dairy and fried foods.

Now, don’t think that means you have to give up every food you love, in many cases you may not need to. Sometimes, just cutting back a little bit can make a big difference.

Instead, start eating fewer servings of those bad for you things. You can cut back on the amount of times per week that you eat meat, for example.

Also, it isn’t all just about cutting back on some foods, but also about adding others. There are some foods that will help you lower your bad and raise your good cholesterol levels.

Things like nuts, brown rice, fresh fruits and vegetables and fish are some of the most common things you can substitute in your diet and start seeing results.

2. If you aren’t currently getting some regular exercise, now is the time to start. Every time you move your body it can be good for you.

You don’t need to go extreme or hardcore, and you should always check with your doctor first, but just get moving.

As you get stronger you should, and probably will want to, add more varied exercises to your routine.

Hey, we can’t do anything about getting older. And as we age, we all know that some things will change. But, we aren’t totally at the mercy of those extra years.

We do have things we can do to mitigate the effects on age and cholesterol levels and you can start right now…as soon as you see your doctor, of course.

Wouldnt You Love To Look Ageless

Everyone has three different ages. First there is the chronological age which is the age in number of years since being born. Then there is the biological age which is the age of your body system at a specific time and is affected by a persons health, their brain, heart, cardiovascular system and skeletal system. Lastly there is the psychological age which is how old you feel. You may be 60 years of age but you only feel 40.

You can’t change your chronological age no matter what you do but you can make some changes to the other two types of age. Your lifestyle, such as diet and exercise, can alter your biological age and the age you feel can also be changed when you feel better biologically.

To improve your health you should eat a balanced, nutritional diet. Reduce the amount of fats and sugars in your diet and avoid fried foods that only add excess fat to your body and clog up your arteries. Eat more lean meats, white meats and fish to get the protein that your body needs.

Do brain exercises regularly to stimulate your brain as this will keep you alert and help to reduce the risk of deterioration and memory loss. Keeping your brain and body healthy will help you to feel younger biologically and psychologically.

Psychological age is how old you feel in your mind. You could be 60 years old, you could have a biological age of 50 but you may feel 40 in your mind. If you keep active and exercise regularly and also do the things that you enjoy in life then you will feel younger psychologically. Laugh as often as you can as this will help to keep you happy, positive and psychologically younger.

Although there is no miracle cure to staying young and reversing the aging process, simple changes in your lifestyle can help you to slow down the aging process and feel young and be biologically young.

A healthy diet and exercise is essential to a young biological age. While many people are satisfied with having a good diet and exercising regularly, some will take a step further and turn to corrective surgery to make themselves look younger. Surgery such as a facelift can help to remove saggy skin and wrinkles which will give a more youthful look. Surgery can be very expensive however and it is best to look after your skin and health and prevent the need for surgery as you get older.

There are many facial products available that can help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Looking after your skin with a daily cleansing routine will help to keep your skin fresh, clean and younger looking.

Exercising regularly is very important to remain healthy. An exercise routine may involve going to the gym or it can be something as simple as a brisk walk, jog or cycle. Playing tennis or going swimming are also great exercises to keep your body and mind healthy and youthful.

A healthy diet will help you to maintain a healthy weight and also reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis.

So although you can’t change your chronological age this doesn’t mean that you need to be the same age biologically and psychologically.

Positive and Negative Effects of Estrogen

Compared to other hormones, there are many large and dependable researches of estrogen and its possible effects on the body that have been performed. These researches have presented that estrogen offers many significant benefits. Because of this, many women are recommended to take estrogen to reduce menopause symptoms.

While many women are benefited by estrogen during or after menopause, some are found at greater risk for particular diseases if they take it. As researches give more information about estrogen, it may help pinpoint the reasons should those persons take it or not.

To most women, the helpful effects of estrogen are far more important than the harmful effects it can give. Estrogen helps reduce hot flashes and lessen the threat for osteoporosis. Other researches show that estrogen also lessens the risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart disease.

However, there are also researches, which presents that estrogen has no beneficial effects for heart problems. Others suggest that estrogen can protect a woman from having Alzheimers disease, but this is not yet confirmed. Recent clinical tests of estrogen in postmenopausal women with symptoms of Alzheimers disease have not presented any effects.

Other beneficial effects of estrogen are:

Reduce night sweats
Reduces the risk of colon cancer
Improves pelvic musculature
Avoid loss of collagen in the skin

However, besides its promises, estrogen has also increased the number of severe concerns because there are dangerous effects that could possibly happen with some women. For instance, some women take an estrogen with another hormone called progestin. Estrogen may also increase a risk of blood clotting, which can damage the proper circulation in the arteries.

Significant proof suggests that long-term use of estrogen can slowly increase the risk of breast cancer. In addition, researches have also shown that there is a greater risk of breast cancer among women who use both the estrogen and the progestin.

Other possible negative effects of estrogen include:

Vaginal bleeding or spotting
Abdominal pains
Poor sleeping habit
Skin rashes
Depression
Head aches, migraine headaches
Causes endometrial cancer

Therefore, with both of these positive and negative effects presented, the decision in taking estrogen will not be all yes. It depends on the woman if she wants to use it still despite of all the negative effects it could have.

Always remember, even if many years will pass, researchers will continue to find out information about the advantages and disadvantages of estrogen. When these new findings come out, more women and their physicians might reconsider their decisions about taking estrogen.