Hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure, is not always taken seriously because it seldom comes with worrying symptoms. However, hypertension is a serious threat to your health - putting you at risk for serious medical conditions like heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. This condition can't really be cured, but you can control it. Keeping your cholesterol level under control is one of the key ways to preventing and controlling hypertension.

Tips to help prevent hypertension:

1. Adequate intake of potassium

2. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products

3. A diet low in saturated and total fat

4. Earlier recommendations to limit intake of sodium and alcohol, reduce excess body weight and increase physical activity are still encouraged

Research suggest that even modest reductions in blood pressure can significantly reduce the number of deaths from strokes and heart disease. By following proven lifestyle changes, you may lower your blood pressure and risk of death. One study found that people with normal blood pressure levels who increased their amount of regular physical activity lowered their systolic blood pressure by more than 4 mm Hg. In another study, overweight participants with normal blood pressure levels significantly lowered their systolic blood pressure levels by losing a modest amount of weight - fewer than 8 pounds. Nutrition plays an important part in controlling blood pressure. Diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and that is limited in saturated and total fat.

Medication for Hypertension

There are different antihypertensive drugs available that work on different parts of the body, to regulate blood pressure. These includes:

• Diuretics: Often referred to as "water pills", diuretics promote the elimination of salt and water from the body through urine. They reduce the amount of fluid circulating in the blood stream, which, in turn, reduces pressure in the arteries.

• Beta & Alpha Blockers: These drugs reduce blood pressure by blocking signals from certain nerves that stimulate the mechanism responsible for the heart rate and force of contraction of the heart. Alpha blockers block the other nerve signals that cause blood vessels to lighten and narrow.

• Ace Inhibitors: These drugs reduce or inhibit the body's production of angiotensin, which causes the blood vessels to narrow.

• Calcium Channel Antagonist: These drugs work primarily by blocking the entry of calcium into the blood vessel cell. When calcium reaches a certain level in the cell, it plays a role in the process of contraction or narrowing of the vessels. Therefore, calcium antagonists reduce blood pressure by dilating the vessels, making it easier for more blood to flow through the circulatory system. Because of the way these drugs ease the flow of blood and oxygen through the coronary arteries unlike ace inhibitors, they are also used to treat heart problems such as angina and related conditions where the circulation of blood and oxygen is inadequate.

Blood Pressure Measurement