Do you have blood pressure and don’t know it

High blood pressure (BP) or hypertension is a health condition that makes no attempt to call attention to itself. It remains quiet in your body wreaking damage silently. By the time you realise that something is wrong, many a times, it could be too late. “Some people get headaches as a result of having blood pressure, but they do not realise it is a symptom of BP. They attribute the headaches to stress,” says Dr Rajeev Lochan, specialist interventional cardiologist, International Modern Hospital. He suggests that everyone over the age of 35 get their blood pressure checked every two years. If you are detected to be a borderline case, the GP will advice how often you need to get the check-up done, he says. Those in the 60-65-year bracket should get a check-up every three to six months, he advises. “There are more than one million people worldwide suffering from high BP. We need to detect people’s condition faster and earlier. Doctors have been given guidelines so that people everywhere get the same treatment,” he says. People with borderline BP (with a blood pressure reading of 140/90) will likely get high blood pressure and it is important to target these individuals for the management of their condition. “We urge lifestyle modification,” says Dr Lochan. “If overweight, they are urged to lose weight, If diabetic, they are advised to cut down on sugar, and quit smoking, if they smoke,” he says. “All this has to be done simultaneously.” A recent study revealed that those who dropped their weight by at least 10 kilos reduce BP by 5-7 mm systolic and could manage their affliction without medication. (Systolic refers to blood pressure when the heart beats while pumping blood. Diastolic is when the heart is at rest between beats). “Patients ask me if they have to be on medication life-long, and I say it depends on when the condition was detected and how good he is at making the lifestyle modifications,” he says. “Hypertension in the UAE is 20 per cent more than the world average,” informs Dr Lochan. In in a normal world, high blood pressure should be the affliction of the aged that strikes people in the age group of 65-75 years. But in today’s chaotic world and stressful times, it strikes at an alrmingly early age. What also compunds the problem are other lifestyle afflictions like diabetes and obesity. Basically, high blood pressure occurs when the blood being pumped from the heart to other parts of the body faces resistance because of calcification or thickening of the arteries. As the arteries age, they thicken over time and allow much lesser blood to flow through. The heart now has to work harder to pump the blood through these arteries. This resistance between the arteries and the pumping of the heart is the high blood pressure. The after-effects of high BP are heart disease or stroke. One of the more effective ways to ward off hypertension is to exercise regularly and maintain a constant weight. “A 30 to 45-minute exercise will make your heart work efficiently,” says Dr. Lochan, reducing the chances of blood pressure. Even the recommended three or four times a week exercise regime is beyond most individuals. “People travel or put off exercise for a day, so the most everyone exercises is once or twice a week, which is inadequate.” You have to exercise every day, he says. It is as essential as that. “Let me give you an example of my schoolmate,’ he says. He was diagnosed with high BP and advised medication. So he took his medication and the moment he felt it was in control, he would discontinue. Since there are no symptoms, he did not realise the damage it was doing internally. The fluctuations in blood pressure eventually affected his kidney. He had to undergo a kidney transplant. His replacement kidney lasted five years and we lost him.” It is important people know that high blood pressure can affect body organs. Dr. Lochan says the importance of taking blood pressure medication regularly cannot be overemphasised. A study showed that about half the patients of high blood pressure give up the medication on their own. “This negligence should be avoided,” he says. He also advises that BP patients regularly monitor their blood pressure at home so they can keep their specialist updated and enable him to manage their condition more effectively.