High Blood Pressure Symptoms

What can I do to help control my blood pressure

It’s helpful to look at the areas of your lifestyle that can cause high blood pressure. For example:

• not doing enough physical activity

• being overweight

• too much salt in your diet

• drinking too much alcohol, and

• not eating enough fruit and vegetables.

It’s also important to look at the areas of your lifestyle that cause extra risk to your heart, such as smoking or having a diet that is high in fat.

Be more physically active

The type of activity recommended for the heart is moderate, rhythmic (aerobic) activity such as brisk walking, cycling or dancing. Walking and cycling are particularly good as you can often build them into your daily routine.

If you have high blood pressure but do not have heart disease or angina

If you have high blood pressure that is well controlled, and you don’t have heart disease or angina, your target is to build up to 30 minutes of moderate activity on at least five days of the week. (‘ Moderate activity ’means any activity that makes you feel warm and slightly out of breath – for example, brisk walking.) Research shows that physical activity can help reduce high blood pressure and may also prevent it from developing in the first place. Regular moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day can help to lower your blood pressure by between 4 and 9mmHg.

If you play a sport or enjoy gardening, there is no reason to stop. However, blood pressure tends to rise during ‘isometric’ exercises such as weightlifting or weight training. So, if you have high blood pressure, it is best to avoid this type of activity. If you are starting a new activity, it is important to ask your GP if you are fit enough, and whether the activity is suitable for you. Also, start off slowly and build up your exercise time and intensity gradually. You can split the 30 minutes a day into two sessions of 15 minutes, or three sessions of 10 minutes.

If you have angina as well as high blood pressure

If you have angina, you need to find out what you can easily manage without getting chest pain, and then gradually increase the amount of activity you do.

It may be helpful to plan a weekly exercise programme based on walking. Choose a walking distance and speed that you know you can cover easily without getting angina. Make this your target. Do this much twice a day for two days. Each time, assess whether the activity was easy or difficult. If it was fairly easy or easy, very gradually increase the distance each day for the next two days. If the activity was difficult, limit yourself to a slower speed or shorter distance until you find it easy. Make sure that you can easily do the activity before increasing your target. And keep your activity regular and frequent and within, rather than beyond, your limits.

Get active!