Contents:
- Medical Video: 5 Simple Ways to Manage Your Blood Pressure
- Why are elderly people at high risk for hypertension?
- Various ways to manage hypertension in the elderly
- 1. Regular exercise
- 2. Pay attention to food intake
- 3. Take hypertension medication
Medical Video: 5 Simple Ways to Manage Your Blood Pressure
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a common disease in the elderly. Even according to National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, middle-aged people are at risk of 90% experiencing hypertension in their later years. Fortunately, there are various simple ways to manage hypertension in the elderly.
Why are elderly people at high risk for hypertension?
Normal blood pressure for most adults ranges between 120/80 mmHg. However, blood pressure is not a condition that persists or stagnates. Blood pressure can vary every time depending on many things, starting from what activities you are currently doing, the food you eat, the time of measurement, to age.
Elderly blood pressure can continue to change and cannot be predicted properly. Sometimes, an elderly person can have low blood pressure and then jump high just intermittently. Unfortunately, the reason for this rapid rise and fall of blood pressure is not yet clear what caused it.
Hypertension in the elderly will increase the risk of having a stroke in the future. This condition also increases your chances of experiencing kidney damage, heart disease, and many other serious health problems if you cannot manage blood pressure properly.
Therefore, many doctors now set a tension range of 140/90 mmHg for older people. To help achieve this target, doctors can prescribe blood pressure medications that begin to be used slowly and gradually increase. This is done to avoid a sudden drop in blood pressure (hypotension).
Drastic reduction in blood pressure can be very dangerous for the elderly. This condition makes them often experience dizziness, body faltering, and the sensation of wanting to faint which can cause them to fall vulnerable. Elderly bones have experienced thinning and thinning, so falls can cause fractures or other serious injuries.
Various ways to manage hypertension in the elderly
You can learn how to keep blood pressure stable in a variety of simple ways. One of the main principles of controlling hypertension in the elderly is making lifestyle changes.
Fortunately, old age does not mean it is too late to manage a healthy lifestyle to avoid high blood pressure and its complications.
1. Regular exercise
Exercise can improve heart fitness to pump blood without having to be forced to work hard. That is, the heart rate will be lower and regular. In the end, this can maintain the elasticity of blood vessels to reduce and stabilize blood pressure.
Regular exercise can also reduce the need to take medication. Because exercise can reduce systolic blood pressure from 4-9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), which is as good as the benefits of taking hypertension drugs.
You are advised to routinely exercise moderate intensity (such as walking and cycling) for 150 minutes a week. Generally, you can exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, at least 3-5 days a week. This time you can distribute regularly every day.
For parents, make sure to always do light and simple physical activities every day. For example, by cleaning up your house or gardening.
Not only that. Regular physical activity also helps you maintain a healthy weight, which is another way to control blood pressure.
2. Pay attention to food intake
Begin limiting the intake of fatty foods and high in salt. Instead, multiply the consumption of whole fruits, vegetables and whole grains by following the DASH diet guidelines that are made specifically for hypertensive people.
Through the DASH diet, one is advised to eat no more than a quarter teaspoon of salt per day. In comparison, the average person eats about four teaspoons of salt every day, almost fifteen times more than the recommended portion.
Salt indirectly increases blood volume by adding water to the bloodstream, which in turn increases blood pressure.
Based on various studies, normal people who apply the DASH diet are known to reduce systolic pressure to 6 points and 3 points from diastolic pressure. While people diagnosed with hypertension can reduce systolic blood pressure to 11 points and 6 points on diastolic pressure only with the DASH diet.
3. Take hypertension medication
Most cases of hypertension in the elderly must be treated with medication, especially if the increase in tension is severe enough and cannot be treated with a healthy lifestyle.
Even so, you also need to equip yourself for the risk of side effects of hypertension drugs. To monitor your blood pressure while avoiding the risk of drug side effects, the key is to routinely do medical check-up to the doctor.
