Due to today’s busy life and continuously deteriorating lifestyle, the patients of hypertension i.e. high blood pressure are increasing rapidly. Habits like wrong eating habits, excessive salt intake, junk and processed food, mental stress, lack of physical activity, obesity, tobacco and alcohol are making this problem more serious. This is the reason why hypertension is now being called a “silent killer”, because it keeps damaging the body from inside gradually without any obvious symptoms and sometimes suddenly becomes serious.

The National Health Mission is also continuously alerting people about hypertension. According to this, this disease silently affects vital organs like heart, brain and kidney. Often people do not become aware of it until a major problem emerges. Uncontrolled blood pressure for a long time can lead to serious problems like heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and poor eyesight. However, it is a matter of relief that it can be controlled by taking right steps in time.

Experts believe that the biggest cause of hypertension is today’s unhealthy lifestyle. Eating excessive salt is considered to be the most common reason for increasing blood pressure. The processed foods, packet snacks, chips, namkeen, pickles and outside food included in the daily diet are rich in salt, which gradually increases the BP. Along with this, constant mental stress, office pressure, family responsibilities and lack of sleep also affect blood pressure by disturbing the hormonal balance of the body.

Physical inactivity is also a major cause of hypertension. Sitting all day, not exercising and increasing weight puts extra pressure on the heart. Especially the fat accumulated around the stomach plays an important role in increasing blood pressure. Apart from this, consumption of tobacco and alcohol damages the blood vessels, which affects the blood flow and further increases the risk of hypertension. Junk food and excessive fat food makes this problem more serious.

According to the National Health Mission, small but regular changes in lifestyle are very important to prevent hypertension. It is very important to check blood pressure daily or get BP checked from time to time. Keep the amount of salt in your food low, eat fresh and balanced diet and include fruits and vegetables in your diet. Along with this, brisk walking, yoga or light exercise for at least 30 minutes every day is beneficial for both heart and body. To reduce stress, meditation, deep breathing techniques and adequate sleep are also important.

Doctors recommend that every person above 18 years of age should check his blood pressure at least once a year. If someone in the family already has the problem of hypertension, heart disease or stroke, then testing becomes even more important. If hypertension is detected in time, it can be easily controlled by adopting the right lifestyle along with medicines and serious diseases can be avoided.