Question: I am a 25 year old overweight female and I know that this can affect my blood pressure. What can I do to keep my blood pressure under control?
Boitumelo, Pretoria
Answer: Overweight or obese individuals tend to have higher blood pressure but may over time develop higher blood fat (cholesterol) levels and may even suffer from diabetes mellitus (common name is diabetes) or pre-diabetes. It is therefore important to visit your doctor or clinic to have your general health, blood pressure and blood sugar tested. The most important part of keeping blood pressure under control is to eat as little salt as possible and to exercise regularly and to eat less. If you cannot reduce your weight in this manner, visit your doctor and ask him/her to refer you to a dietician.
Question: I have a highly stressful job with long hours. What role does stress play in having high blood pressure?
Fiona, Cape Town
Answer: Stress is usually associated with higher levels of stress hormones (including cortisol and adrenaline), which in itself increases the blood pressure of the body in a chemical way. Furthermore, stressed individuals tend to eat sweet foods to relieve stress and tend to smoke more, and may even use alcohol as a stress reliever. These habits may increase your chances to develop hypertension. A healthy lifestyle of regular sleep, a balanced diet, balance between work and play, regular exercise and good interpersonal relationships are very good stress relievers.
Question: I am 24 years old and pregnant, what can I do to ensure that I do not get hypertension?
Busi, Port Elizabeth
Answer: Hypertension is usually genetic or familial in nature and persons with a tendency to hypertension or with pre-hypertension may develop hypertension during pregnancy. There is, however, a disease that is related to hypertension which is called pre-eclampsia, which may be complication of pregnancy. Not much can be done to prevent hypertension, except for moderate pre-natal exercises, a healthy diet and enough rest. In order make sure that hypertension or pre-eclampsia is diagnosed when it occurs in pregnancy, it is important to regularly visit your doctor or the clinic for ante-natal visits.
Question: I have been diagnosed with hypertension and my doctor mentioned that I was only in Stage 1 of hypertension. What does this mean?
Julia, Johannesburg
Answer: This means that you have mild hypertension and that complications of hypertension may be avoided with the correct lifestyle adjustments (diet, exercise and weight loss) and minimal medication – usually one type of first line, generic hypertensive medicines.
Question: I am an inactive 30 year old male and I have never been diagnosed with Hypertension like some people my age. Should I worry?
Richard, Mpumalanga
Answer: No, do not worry if it is not necessary to. You may have to become slightly more active. Make sure that you eat a balanced diet, do not become overweight or obese and try to take part in enjoyable exercise that is related to some sort of sport (gym, running, cycling, tennis, etc) for at least 30 minutes two to three times per week. Keep to the correct lifestyle and see your doctor at least once a year for a checkup.
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