Many people already have high blood pressure, but they still don't know it? Hurry up and check yourself.

It is estimated that there are more than 600 million adult hypertensive patients in China. It is recommended that the diagnostic threshold of adult hypertension in China be lowered to 130/80mmHg. "the diagnostic standard of adult hypertension in China is still ≥ 140/90mmHg. Many people have hypertension but have no symptoms. This may be due to the gradual development of tolerance in the process of slowly rising blood pressure, and the damage of elevated blood pressure to blood vessels, heart, kidney, brain, eyes and other important organs is persistent. Even some patients will choose to ignore and not to be treated. Low blood pressure leads to insufficient blood perfusion in the whole body, which can lead to insufficient blood supply to important organs such as cerebral artery, coronary artery and kidney, which can induce cerebrovascular accident, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, decreased renal function and so on. Postural hypotension may lead to a sudden fall in the elderly after getting up. People often think that high blood pressure in the elderly is normal, resulting in some patients can not get correct diagnosis and effective treatment.

This article review expert

Yu Liping

Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University

Chief physician of Department of Cardiology

01

Many people already have high blood pressure, but they still don't know it?

On November 13, 2022, the Chinese Hypertension Clinical practice Guide (hereinafter referred to as "the Guide") was issued by the National Cardiovascular Disease Center, the Chinese Physicians' Association and the Cardiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.

According to the new guidelines, the diagnostic threshold of hypertension in Chinese adults is lowered from ≥ 140/90mmHg to ≥ 130/80mmHg. This change means that 130-139 Compact 80-89 will change from "healthy people" to new-onset hypertension patients. They are invisible patients with hypertension, mostly young and middle-aged. According to the new guidelines, the number of adult patients with hypertension in China is estimated to be more than 600 million, compared with the previous estimate of 245 million.

It should be noted that the National Health Commission released a message that the country has standardized procedures for the formulation and issuance of diagnostic criteria for diseases such as hypertension. Guidelines and consensus issued by professional institutions, industry associations, individuals, etc., as the research results of experts, are not regarded as national disease diagnosis standards. In other words, in the guidelines issued on November 13, 2022, the content of "recommending that the diagnostic threshold of hypertension in adults in China be lowered to 130/80mmHg" belongs to the results of expert research, which is of reference, but can not be used as a national standard for disease diagnosis.

Therefore, the diagnostic standard of hypertension in adults in China is still ≥ 140/90mmHg, but people whose blood pressure exceeds 130/80mmHg should still be vigilant.

Clinical evidence and many studies have confirmed that when the blood pressure exceeds 130/80mmHg, the damage to the heart, brain and kidney has begun to accumulate. Early intervention and management of the blood pressure of this part of the population can not only prevent more adverse heart, brain and kidney events, but also save huge medical expenses, but also save countless families who may be disabled or poor due to illness in the future.

02

Is it a good thing to have high blood pressure but not uncomfortable?

When it comes to hypertension, the first reaction is dizziness and headache. In fact, many people have high blood pressure but have no symptoms. This may be due to the gradual development of tolerance during a slow rise in blood pressure, or a decline in body function with age and insensitivity to elevated blood pressure.

With or without symptoms, the damage of elevated blood pressure to blood vessels, heart, kidney, brain, eyes and other important organs is persistent. The absence of symptoms makes it difficult for us to pay attention to this potential and long-term injury, and even some patients will choose to ignore it and not to be treated.

03

Is the blood pressure as low as possible?

The lower the blood pressure, the better. On the one hand, low blood pressure leads to insufficient blood perfusion in the whole body, resulting in insufficient blood supply to important organs such as cerebral arteries, coronary arteries, kidneys, and other important organs, such as fatigue, fatigue, dizziness, memory loss and chest tightness. Severe cases can induce cerebrovascular accidents, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, decreased renal function and so on.

On the other hand, postural hypotension may cause the elderly to fall suddenly after getting up, while the elderly are often accompanied by osteoporosis and fractures after falling.

Therefore, for the elderly, the importance of blood pressure is stable, excessive blood pressure on our heart, brain, kidney and other important organs is a kind of damage.

04

Does it matter that the blood pressure of the elderly is high?

People often think that high blood pressure in the elderly is normal, this misperception is particularly prominent in the elderly, resulting in some patients can not get correct diagnosis and effective treatment.

In fact, there is no age division for the diagnostic criteria of hypertension. It is recommended that as long as the healthy elderly aged 65 to 80 years old can tolerate treatment and their systolic blood pressure exceeds 140mmHg, they should start medication.

05

Won't you get high blood pressure if you use less salt in cooking?

There is also a lot of "invisible salt" hidden in the common diet, which can lead to a rise in blood pressure no matter where the salt is ingested.

Beverages, dates, preserved apricots, potato chips, hanging noodles, and even fermented steamed bread, many foods contain a lot of "invisible salt". In particular, be careful of particularly delicious and sweet foods, which tend to have a high sodium content.

In order to reduce the intake of invisible salt, when shopping in the supermarket, you should first look at the sodium content in the food label and try not to buy the ones with high content.

Note: the World Health Organization recommends that healthy adults eat no more than 5 grams of salt a day. In the absence of heavy sweating, people only need to eat 2 grams of salt a day to maintain normal physiological activities. Patients with hypertension should lighten their taste and limit the total amount of salt to 2 ~ 3 grams per day.

06

Does hypertension need to take medicine for life as soon as it is diagnosed?

Most hypertension belongs to essential hypertension and cannot be cured, so antihypertensive drugs need to be taken for a long time or for life, but whether they need to be taken for life cannot be generalized.

Secondary hypertension refers to hypertension caused by a specific cause, accounting for 5% to 10% of all hypertensive patients. If the real cause of elevated blood pressure can be identified and treated, some hypertension can be cured and controlled by surgery or special drugs.

On the contrary, if the secondary cause is not found in time, the blood pressure may continue to rise, which is difficult to control, and these hypertension are more prone to heart, brain, kidney and other organ function damage.

07

How to improve and prevent hypertension?

For most patients with hypertension, in addition to taking medication on time, they should be combined with the following non-drug treatment, which plays an important role in improving the treatment of hypertension.

1. Lose weight

Overweight and obesity can increase blood pressure and increase the risk of hypertension. Abdominal obesity may be more strongly associated with hypertension. Overweight and obese people are advised to lose weight.

For obese hypertensive patients, for every 5 kg weight loss, blood pressure can be reduced by 10mmHg~20mmHg.

2. Multi-exercise

Active and regular exercise can reduce the risk of hypertension, strengthen the physique and improve the health level. Summer exercise should be avoided in an environment of high temperature, high humidity and poor ventilation.

The blood pressure of elderly patients with hypertension should be monitored before exercise. If the blood pressure is above 180/110mmHg, exercise is not recommended to prevent complications such as cerebral hemorrhage. If your blood pressure is below 180/110mmHg, you should take antihypertensive drugs before exercising.

Do not carry out strenuous physical activities during exercise, but should take Taijiquan, walking and jogging as the main exercise methods. At the same time, we should pay attention to the symptoms such as headache, dizziness, palpitation, chest tightness, angina pectoris and so on. If you have the above symptoms, you should stop exercising immediately.

3. Eat less salt

Excessive sodium intake and insufficient potassium intake is one of the important risk factors for hypertension.

Low sodium: it is recommended that the daily salt intake per person should not exceed 5 grams, and low sodium salt can be used. The results of a Chinese-based SSaSS study showed that compared with common salt, the low-sodium substitute salt (about 75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride) diet reduced the risk of stroke by 14%, the major cardiovascular risk by 13%, and the risk of death from all causes by 12%.

Potassium: eat more potassium-rich foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, nuts and soy products.

4. Have a good mood

Keep a good mood, don't worry, don't get angry, your blood pressure can drop by 5 to 10 mmHg.

5. Keep your mouth shut

Like many diseases, high blood pressure should be avoided. If you can not control your mouth, it is difficult to control blood pressure, such as the following four kinds of food, patients with high blood pressure should eat less!

① stimulating food: chili, curry, mustard and other spicy seasonings, spring onions, mustard and other spicy vegetables, as well as alcohol, coffee, strong tea, carbonated drinks and so on.

② over-salty food: pickled vegetables, salted fish, sausages, etc., pickled foods contain high salinity, which can easily lead to high blood pressure.

③ high-calorie food: especially sugars, easy to cause high blood lipids.

Meat high in ④ saturated fatty acids: such as beef, pork, mutton, belly, fat meat, sausage, sausage, bacon and so on.

6. Don't smoke

It is recommended to avoid smoking, quit smoking completely and avoid passive smoking. After smoking a cigarette, our heart rate increases by an average of 5-20 beats per minute, and systolic blood pressure increases by 10mmHg~25mmHg. And smoking 2 cigarettes, 10 minutes later, due to the increased secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine, the heartbeat will be faster, systolic and diastolic blood pressure will rise.

7. Don't stay up late

If you don't sleep well at night, your blood pressure at night will not get a good rest because of sympathetic nerves, or even anxiety caused by insomnia, resulting in a rise in blood pressure, which is easy to form abnormal blood pressure changes. Moreover, this kind of injury can not be made up by getting some sleep the next day.

Sleep apnea is also one of the causes of elevated blood pressure. People with sleep problems are advised to go to a doctor for treatment to improve their sleep quality.

8. Take it easy

Work pressure is relatively large, mental tension, the body will secrete a chemical called catecholamine, this chemical can cause vasoconstriction, vasoconstriction will cause increased resistance, and resistance will increase, will cause blood pressure to rise.

In addition to long-term mental tension or anxiety easy to increase hypertension, depression can also increase the risk of hypertension, we should maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, avoid negative emotions, and actively accept psychological intervention if necessary.

9. Regular monitoring

Most people do not feel it when their blood pressure rises slowly, so it is necessary to monitor their blood pressure regularly.

The blood pressure of adults aged 18 and above should be measured at least once a year. People at high risk of hypertension, such as overweight or obesity, high-salt diet, smoking, long-term drinking, mental stress and lack of physical activity, should measure their blood pressure frequently.

Patients with diagnosed hypertension should have a sphygmomanometer at home, develop the habit of measuring blood pressure at home, and do a good job of monitoring.

Source: CCTV Life Circle