这个假期有5个关于血压的建议
美国心脏协会线上电子游戏飞禽走兽报道
对于八千万患有高血压的美国人, the hectic holiday crunch ’tis the season for a little extra caution.
即使是那些通常吃健康饮食的人, exercise and take other precautions may run the risk of sabotaging their health during the holidays. It’s especially important to avoid self-sabotage because of just how dangerous high blood pressure is: It’s a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke – two of the leading causes of death in the world – and usually has no outward symptoms.
So watch out for these five things the 美国心脏协会 and numerous other health experts have identified as potential saboteurs to keeping your blood pressure measurements below 120/80.
钠会带来麻烦
每年的这个时候都不缺咸味小吃. 过量的钠已被证明会增加血压. Excessive sodium holds excess fluid in the body, placing an added burden on the heart.
Talk to your doctor about a low-sodium diet if you have high blood pressure. And think twice about those seasonal foods that you may not realize can be loaded with sodium: breads, 奶酪和熟肉.
注意压力
是的, 说起来容易做起来难, especially while fighting for that last parking spot within a mile of the mall, but it is important to find positive ways to avoid or relieve stress.
在压力, your body releases stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) into the blood that prepare the body for the “fight or flight response.“你的心跳加快，血管收缩, 什么会使血压暂时升高. 并非所有的压力都是不好的.
Chronic stress can cause your body to go into high gear on and off for days or weeks at a time. 虽然它可能不会直接导致高血压, chronic stress can lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices that can affect your blood pressure.
吃药!
如果你在服药控制血压, it’s quite literally sabotaging yourself when you don’t take it as prescribed. 这可能会令人困惑，但有很多工具可以跟踪. 你的移动设备上也有应用程序, 或者你也可以列一个老式的清单，或者在日历上做个标记.
你的医生也可能有其他的方法来帮助你.
“Remember that you’re on blood pressure-lowering medicine for a reason,” said Raymond Townsend, M.D., director of the Hypertension Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “停止, 跳过, or taking them differently can increase your risk of debilitating or deadly consequences such as stroke or heart attack. 如果你认为你需要做一些不同的事情, 先和你的医疗保健提供者谈谈, 在做出可能改变你生活的改变之前.”
要小心非处方药
The AHA recommends people with high blood pressure understand that decongestants may raise blood pressure. Many over-the-counter cold and flu medicines contain decongestants such as oxymetazoline, 苯肾上腺素和伪麻黄碱, 会增加血压.
小心睡眠呼吸暂停
If you snore or have noticeable sleeping problems or daytime fatigue, you may have sleep apnea. This potentially life-threatening condition can increase your risk for high blood pressure as well as heart failure, 中风和糖尿病.
When people have sleep apnea, tissues in the throat collapse during sleep and block the airway. The brain forces the person awake to cough or gulp air, often many times over the course of a night. If you have sleep apnea, sticking to your prescribed treatment can help with your blood pressure. 如果您怀疑自己可能患有此病，请咨询您的医疗保健提供者.
Editor’s Note: This story was written when high blood pressure was considered 140/90 or higher. New guidelines released in November 2017 changed the definition to 130/80.