Hypertension

What is hypertension?

Hypertension happens when the pressure of your blood in your arteries is too high.

Over time, this increased pressure puts a lot of stress on your heart and blood vessels and raises your chances of developing other chronic health problems like heart disease. 

How do you measure hypertension?

During your physical exam at Advance Medical Group, your practitioner uses a pressure cuff to measure your blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, a reading for healthy blood pressure levels is anything around or below 120/80 mm/Hg.

If your blood pressure is between 120 and 129/80 mm/Hg, you have elevated blood pressure and are at a higher risk for developing high blood pressure if you don’t make immediate changes to your lifestyle. If your reading is at or above 130/80 mm/Hg on more than two occasions, you have high blood pressure.

Whether you are at risk to develop hypertension, or you have it already, Advance Medical Group offers various treatment options.

What are the symptoms of hypertension?

Hypertension is known as a silent killer because it doesn’t have any obvious symptoms. But if you allow your high blood pressure to go unchecked, you are at risk for developing:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Kidney failure
• Vision problems

The only way to detect it and avoid developing symptoms that appear when the issue has become life-threatening is through regular checkups at Advance Medical Group.

What is the treatment for hypertension?

There is no one cure for high blood pressure, but there are many ways to prevent and manage it and make sure you don’t develop further complications. Some of these are:

Healthy diet and regular exercise

Make the effort to change your diet and include at least 30 minutes of exercise to your daily routine.

Maintain a healthy weight

Making sure you aren’t overweight or obese makes a huge difference to your blood pressure reading, and even a small reduction can have a big effect. The practice offers medical weight loss programs individually tailored for patients of all ages to help reduce or sustain their current weight.

Prescription medication

If your blood pressure is very high, in addition to changes in your diet and exercise, your practitioner prescribes medication that helps get it under control.

If you’ve already developed high blood pressure, the team of specialists works with you in different aspects of your life to get your hypertension under control.

To learn more, call Advance Medical Group or use the online tool to make an appointment today.