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Our blood pressure is something of a silent friend or devastating foe and the problem is it doesn’t give us any warning or signs of not being right unless we test it.
Our blood pressure indicates the ease with which our blood flows around our body. If our arteries are furred up because of our diet, lack of exercise, smoking, or other factors, it is like a motorway with one lane taken out. Just as this would seriously affect the flow of traffic, narrowing of the arteries affects the flow of our blood and can cause very serious life-changing issues, most commonly having a stroke or heart attack.
Recently, my hubby Mike and I were asked to test our blood pressure at home and text the results to our GP, which we did. The following day, Mike received a call from the practice nurse asking him to take his blood pressure twice a day, morning and evening, every day for the next week and then send in the results. She explained that whilst his results weren’t too worrying, they were a little on the high side. He was very surprised as he works hard at his fitness and eats healthily.
Mike goes to the gym for two very energetic sessions every week, incorporating cardio and strength work. Even though he works incredibly hard for those two workouts, he isn’t very active for the rest of the week. So, he decided to take our black Labrador BB for a walk in the fields on the days that he didn’t go to the gym.
Now, BB is almost 13 and she and I walk for 30 minutes every morning. We wondered how she would cope going for another, longer walk with Mike but she loves it and runs around the field like a five-year-old. Mike felt better for his 40-minute walk in the fresh air and getting slightly out of breath as he walked up the hill.
He also enjoys meeting up with his friends occasionally at a local pub but he decided that he would drink a lower-alcohol beer to see if that helped his blood pressure. And it did!
A couple of weeks later he repeated the blood pressure monitoring twice each morning and evening, for a further seven days. We were amazed at the results in such a short period of time. In fact, his blood pressure had gone down from 138/78 to 123/70.
Our blood pressure is very important. If it is too high it can lead to our having a stroke, whilst if it is too low it could lead us to feel light-headed, dizzy, or faint, so it is worth taking seriously.
The place where Mike and I go for our training, Bridge4, (www.bridge4studio.co.uk) is a different kind of gym as it is physio-led. As well as helping the likes of Mike and me to get fit (or fitter) they have a neuro and physical rehab facility, helping all kinds of people to recover from injury or improve their health generally.
The owner of Bridge4 is Chartered Physiotherapist Judith Pitt-Brooke and both she and Neuro-physio JD Hylton have recorded several videos with me which you will find on the Stroke page in our Health section. These include Stroke Explained where we look at what a Stroke is, Stroke, Causes and Avoidance looking at how to avoid having one, and Stroke Rehabilitation & Restoration looking at how neuro-physiotherapy can help restore movement.
We can check our blood pressure using an automatic blood pressure monitor that you can buy for around £20 - £30 from most pharmacies. As it can vary significantly from day to day and hour by hour, the best way is to work out an average reading by taking two consecutive readings, 1 - 2 minutes apart, every morning and evening, for a week. Make a note of the results on this Blood Pressure Record Sheet. Ignore the readings from Day 1 (which can be higher than normal due to the anxiety of having our blood pressure taken!). From Day 2, add up all the top numbers (your systolic blood pressure) and divide by the number of readings (6 days x 4 readings = 24) Then add the bottom readings (your diastolic blood pressure) and divide by 24. Write your average blood pressure at the foot of the form.
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Serves 4
Per serving: 256 Calories, 2.2% fat
Prep time 15 mins
Cook Time 90 mins
2 red onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g lean diced beef
2 celery sticks, chopped
10g sundried tomatoes, chopped
500ml beer or stout
500ml beef stock
1 tbsp low-fat gravy granules
250g small button mushrooms
1 tbsp mixed herbs (parsley, thyme, chives)
Freshly ground black pepper
- Dry-fry the onions and garlic in a preheated non-stick pan until they start to brown. Add the beef, season with black pepper and continue cooking to seal the meat.
- Add the celery, tomatoes and beer or stout and bring to the boil. Stir in the beef stock and gravy granules, add the mushrooms and herbs, then cover and simmer gently for 1 hour.
- When the meat is tender, adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding more gravy granules or water and serve immediately.
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Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
It was most interesting reading about Mike's experience regarding a slight elevation of his blood pressure, particularly with regard to how he dealt with it. It is exactly the reaction we would hope anyone would have if they had a similar scare regarding one of the most important and fundamental of health checks.
A raised blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is when the force of blood pushing against the artery walls is consistently too high, making the heart work harder to pump blood around your body. You are literally wearing out the heart too soon!
The need for having our blood pressure checked regularly is that it is often referred to as 'the silent killer' as we will have no idea it is high. We will probably have no symptoms at all, and yet left untreated it is the major cause of heart attacks, strokes and other serious health conditions.
Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). When checked there are two numbers that are important to know:
- Systolic Pressure - This is given as the top reading and it measures the pressure in our blood vessels when our heart beats.
- Diastolic Pressure - This is the bottom reading and it measures the resting pressure in our blood vessels between the beats.
As I understand the importance of these readings, I always ask my health professional what the readings are, as in my experience they are unlikely to tell you except to say it is 'normal' or 'a little high' or 'far too high' etc. The chart below shows the different stages of hypertension and knowing your correct reading enables you to be fully informed. With a reading of 138/78, Mike's blood pressure put him in Stage 1 for hypertension. This was great news because he was able to act upon it and bring it down by making small changes in his lifestyle without the need for medication. And it clearly worked, as in a very short period of time his blood pressure dropped to almost spot on the 'normal ' range.
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How to lower blood pressure without medication
When blood pressure is dangerously high then it makes absolute sense to take medication to bring it under control. But it will come as no surprise that the very best way to bring it down is with exercise. Much research has been done around this area and the conclusions drawn are exactly as we recommend to you every week: A 30-minute daily walk (preferably in the morning) followed by getting up and moving around regularly throughout the rest of the day.
This comes from a study at the University of Western Australia where, under clinical conditions, participants completed an early morning walk and then every 30 minutes were instructed to get up and move around for 3 minutes at a light intensity. The results were significant for both men and women and were equal to the effect of having medication to lower the reading. It is easy to see why, as exercise makes the heart stronger and a stronger heart pumps more blood with less effort, even when at rest!
Some Useful Tips:
- Always warm up thoroughly before exercising to allow your blood pressure to rise gradually and avoid a sudden 'spike' in blood pressure.
- After exercise, cool down slowly and gradually. Exercise levels of blood pressure will naturally drop after 2 hours.
- If you have stage 1 or 2 high blood pressure and are not on medication then take care when exercising. Exercise naturally raises the blood pressure to anything between 160 – 220 mmHg systolic so you need to manage the intensity of your exercise. Don’t go mad!
- Too much stress in your life releases hormones that cause blood vessels to constrict, raising blood pressure. Stress is a fact of life but you determine how it affects you. Use techniques that help to relieve stress such as slow and controlled breathing.
So, making healthy changes to your lifestyle may be enough, as Mike has found so far. However, many people need to take medication and, if so, no doubt your health professional will also discuss the need to make appropriate lifestyle changes to work alongside the medication. The encouraging news is that many people who have passed through my hands over the years, and who started an exercise programme whilst on medication, went on to be told that now they were fitter they no longer needed it. That's the power of regular exercise!
Low Blood Pressure
Hypertension is when the blood pressure is too high, but there is also such a thing as Hypotension when the blood pressure can be too low, which can also be a health risk. The difference with hypotension though is that you may have symptoms such as dizziness, feeling sick or blurred vision.
This also links to something called 'postural hypotension' when your blood pressure drops when you go from lying down to sitting up or standing. You may have your blood pressure taken when lying down and then again when standing up. There could be a risk of falling if you get up too quickly, so in the mornings, sit on the side of the bed to allow your blood pressure to rise a little before you stand.
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This Week's Fitness Challenge
- With such good evidence pointing to the fact that taking our Daily 30+ minute walk in the mornings is particularly good for us, let’s do that as often as we can this week.
- Combine 2 strength workouts with 1 Pilates workout and a Full Body Stretch to help you relax and relieve stress.
- On one or two days this week choose a longer walking route of more than an hour in one of your local beauty spots. That will combine exercise with stress release! Don't forget to do your Post-walk Stretches when you return, particularly if you have been on a really long walk!
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And finally...
Checking our blood pressure periodically is a really wise thing to do and it is worth noting it in your diary/notebook should you be asked about your ‘normal’ blood pressure in the case of an emergency.
If ever we were in any doubt of the difference going for a daily walk can make to our health, hopefully, this week’s Newsletter will have convinced you.
Have a great week.
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
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LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
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For many years doctors would have a large device on their desk that resembled a wooden-mounted thermometer with a glass tube containing a column of mercury. They would put a blow-up cuff around your arm, manually inflating it with a rubber bulb in their hand until the squeezing pressure had stopped the blood flow. Then, slowly releasing the cuff pressure they listened with a stethoscope for the "whooshing" sound as the blood started flowing again in your forearm. The pressure at which this sound began was recorded as the systolic blood pressure and when, with the cuff pressure further released, the sound could no longer be heard, that was recorded as the diastolic blood pressure.
with a dial showing the pressure, and now, of course, such devices have gone digital meaning that anyone can have a relatively cheap and accurate blood pressure monitor in their home, thus avoiding the abnormally high blood pressure readings sometimes caused by "white coat syndrome."
