Blood Pressure Dy-mystified

Blood plays an important role in our body . Some of its key functions include

Supply of oxygen & nutrients to various part of body Detoxify body by removing waste such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid etc .. Regulates body pH & core body temperature

To do all this blood has to move and that is what our heart does , it works as a pump and makes the blood move all around the body . Three things affect the amount of pressure that pushes blood through your body: how forcefully the heart pumps, how much blood there is, and how narrow the smallest blood vessels are.

What causes our heart to pump hard ?

Several body hormones, particu­larly epinephrine and norepinephrine, “whip” the heart to beat faster and harder. These hormones are made by your adrenal glands (located just on top of your kidneys). Exercising and fear cause increases in these two hormones, which is good: your heart needs to work harder when you exercise, or when you may need to run away from something frightening. However, chronic anxiety and stress also increase these hormones, and that’s not good. During a stressful day, unnecessarily our heart beats faster and harder causing the blood pressure going up. Some uncommon diseases—not just chronic anxiety and stress—also can raise levels of these hormones.

What determines the volume of blood we have ?

Water (fluids) & Salts (minerals) are key constituents in blood. The amount of fluid you drink and the amount you lose through sweating and uri­nation affect how much fluid there is in your blood. In same way , salty foods, and salt added to your foods, can increase the fluid in your blood. That’s why people with high blood pressure are urged to go light on salt, and often given diuretic drugs to help their kidneys eliminate excess fluid and salt.

What determines how narrow our blood vessels (arterioles) are?

These blood vessels have circles of muscle in their walls that can clamp down and narrow the vessels. The same hormone—norepinephrine—that whips your heart to beat faster and harder also causes the blood vessels to clamp down, raising blood pressure

In short , high blood pressure is influenced by our genes and also by our lifestyle. As a coach, i always say if genes are the loaded guns , then our habits are the triggers . So if we make right choices you will never get diseases even if you got in your genes . So chose right and stay healthy