1. Lose extra pounds and watch your waistline
Blood pressure often increases as weight increases. Being overweight also can cause disrupted breathing while you sleep (sleep apnea), which further raises your blood pressure.
Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure. Losing just 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) can help reduce your blood pressure.
Besides shedding pounds, you generally should also keep an eye on your waistline. Carrying too much weight around your waist can put you at greater risk of high blood pressure.
In general:

• Men are at risk if their waist measurement is greater than 40 inches (102 centimeters).
• Women are at risk if their waist measurement is greater than 35 inches (89 centimeters).
  These numbers vary among ethnic groups. Ask your doctor about a healthy waist measurement for you.

• 2. Exercise regularly
  Regular physical activity — at least 30 minutes most days of the week — can lower your blood pressure by 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). It's important to be consistent because if you stop exercising, your blood pressure can rise again.
  If you have slightly high blood pressure (prehypertension), exercise can help you avoid developing full-blown hypertension. If you already have hypertension, regular physical activity can bring your blood pressure down to safer levels.
  The best types of exercise for lowering blood pressure include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or dancing. Strength training also can help reduce blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about developing an exercise program.
  3. Eat a healthy diet
  Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and skimps on saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by up to 14 mm Hg. This eating plan is known as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
  It isn't easy to change your eating habits, but with these tips, you can adopt a healthy diet:
• Keep a food diary. Writing down what you eat, even for just a week, can shed surprising light on your true eating habits. Monitor what you eat, how much, when and why.
• Consider boosting potassium. Potassium can lessen the effects of sodium on blood pressure. The best source of potassium is food, such as fruits and vegetables, rather than supplements. Talk to your doctor about the potassium level that's best for you.
• Be a smart shopper. Read food labels when you shop and stick to your healthy-eating plan when you're dining out, too.
  4. Reduce sodium in your diet
  Even a small reduction in the sodium in your diet can reduce blood pressure by 2 to 8 mm Hg.
  The effect of sodium intake on blood pressure varies among groups of people. In general, limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day or less. However, a lower sodium intake — 1,500 mg a day or less — is appropriate for people with greater salt sensitivity, including:
• < >Anyone age 51 or older
• Anyone diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease
  To decrease sodium in your diet, consider these tips:
• Read food labels. If possible, choose low-sodium alternatives of the foods and beverages you normally buy.
• Eat fewer processed foods. Only a small amount of sodium occurs naturally in foods. Most sodium is added during processing.
• Don't add salt. Just 1 level teaspoon of salt has 2,300 mg of sodium. Use herbs or spices to add flavor to your food.
• Ease into it. If you don't feel you can drastically reduce the sodium in your diet suddenly, cut back gradually. Your palate will adjust over time.
  5. Limit the amount of alcohol you drink
  Alcohol can be both good and bad for your health. In small amounts, it can potentially lower your blood pressure by 2 to 4 mm Hg.
  But that protective effect is lost if you drink too much alcohol — generally more than one drink a day for women and for men older than age 65, or more than two a day for men age 65 and younger. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.
  Drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol can actually raise blood pressure by several points. It can also reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medications.
   
  6. Quit smoking
  Each cigarette you smoke increases your blood pressure for many minutes after you finish. Quitting smoking helps your blood pressure return to normal. People who quit smoking, regardless of age, have substantial increases in life expectancy.
  7. Cut back on caffeine
  The role caffeine plays in blood pressure is still debated. Caffeine can raise blood pressure by as much as 10 mm Hg in people who rarely consume it, but there is little to no strong effect on blood pressure in habitual coffee drinkers.
  Although the effects of chronic caffeine ingestion on blood pressure aren't clear, the possibility of a slight increase in blood pressure exists.
  To see if caffeine raises your blood pressure, check your pressure within 30 minutes of drinking a caffeinated beverage. If your blood pressure increases by 5 to 10 mm Hg, you may be sensitive to the blood pressure raising effects of caffeine. Talk to your doctor about the effects of caffeine on your blood pressure.
  8. Reduce your stress
  Chronic stress is an important contributor to high blood pressure. Occasional stress also can contribute to high blood pressure if you react to stress by eating unhealthy food, drinking alcohol or smoking.
  Take some time to think about what causes you to feel stressed, such as work, family, finances or illness. Once you know what's causing your stress, consider how you can eliminate or reduce stress.
  If you can't eliminate all of your stressors, you can at least cope with them in a healthier way. Try to:
• Change your expectations. Give yourself time to get things done. Learn to say no and to live within manageable limits. Try to learn to accept things you can't change.
• Think about problems under your control and make a plan to solve them. You could talk to your boss about difficulties at work or to family members about problems at home.
• Know your stress triggers. Avoid whatever triggers you can. For example, spend less time with people who bother you or avoid driving in rush-hour traffic.
• Make time to relax and to do activities you enjoy. Take 15 to 20 minutes a day to sit quietly and breathe deeply. Try to intentionally enjoy what you do rather than hurrying through your "relaxing activities" at a stressful pace.
• Practice gratitude. Expressing gratitude to others can help reduce stressful thoughts.
  9. Monitor your blood pressure at home and see your doctor regularly
  Home monitoring can help you keep tabs on your blood pressure, make certain your lifestyle changes are working, and alert you and your doctor to potential health complications. Blood pressure monitors are available widely and without a prescription. Talk to your doctor about home monitoring before you get started.
  Regular visits with your doctor are also key to controlling your blood pressure. If your blood pressure is under control, you might need to visit your doctor only every six to 12 months, depending on other conditions you might have. If your blood pressure isn't well-controlled, your doctor will likely want to see you more frequently.
  10. Get support
  Supportive family and friends can help improve your health. They may encourage you to take care of yourself, drive you to the doctor's office or embark on an exercise program with you to keep your blood pressure low.
  If you find you need support beyond your family and friends, consider joining a support group. This may put you in touch with people who can give you an emotional or morale boost and who can offer practical tips to cope with your condition.
   

What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure (HBP or hypertension) is when your blood pressure, the force of the blood flowing through your blood vessels, is consistently too high.If you have high blood pressure, you are not alone

• About 85 million Americans — one out of every three adults over age 20 — have high blood pressure. (Nearly one of out six don’t even know they have it.)
• The best way to know if you have high blood pressure it is to have your blood pressure checked.

Know your numbers
Learn about checking your blood pressure numbers and what they mean.

High blood pressure is a “silent killer”

• Most of the time there are no obvious symptoms.
• Certain physical traits and lifestyle choices can put you at a greater risk for developing high blood pressure.
• When left untreated, the damage that high blood pressure does to your circulatory system is a significant contributing factor to heart attack, stroke and other health threats.

There is hope

• While there is no cure for high blood pressure, with proper treatment and management, you can live a long and healthy life.
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
• https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/GettheFactsAboutHighBloodPressure/The-Facts-About-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002050_Article.jsp 
  

OASIS HOME HEALTH NURSES ARE AVAIABLE TO HELP YOU MANAGE YOUR HIGH BLOOD PRESSUE!!

It's National Cholesterol Education Month, a campaign to raise awareness about the risks of high cholesterol among the public organized each year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with a variety of other supporters and like-minded organizations.
"Seventy-one million American adults have high cholesterol, but only one-third of them have the condition under control," the CDC declares on its National Cholesterol Education Month website. September's month-long focus on cholesterol education, then, is "a good time to resolve to get your cholesterol screened."
"High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the first and fifth leading causes of death in the United States," the agency stated in last year's National Cholesterol Education Month press statement. "High cholesterol is asymptomatic; therefore, blood cholesterol screening is the only way to know one's risk."

Given the importance, then, of cholesterol education in everyone's overall health, we'd like to spread the word among not only consumers but also physicians and practitioners about the importance of promoting cholesterol awareness this month (and throughout the year). With that in mind, we offer a few cholesterol resources and informational guides, from the CDC and other sources, to help promote cholesterol awareness among your patients, colleagues, friends and family.
Cholesterol Education Fact Sheets & InfographicsThe CDC offers a host of cholesterol education tools and resources, such as:

• Patient Infographic: What Can We Do to Control Cholesterol? (via Heart.org)
• Patient Fact Sheet: Know the Facts about High Cholesterol (via the CDC)
• Web Page/Resource: High Cholesterol Educational Materials for Patients (via the CDC)
• Clinical Fact Sheet: High Cholesterol Facts from the CDC, including a chart breaking down cholesterol national levels by race, ethnicity, and sex. (Via the CDC.)
• Clinical Fact Sheet: State Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Programs Address High Blood Cholesterol. This one's a tad on the older side, but still contains great cholesterol awareness information: "High blood cholesterol is a major modifiable risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States," it states. "Yet, a 10% decrease in total blood cholesterol levels can reduce the incidence of heart disease by as much as 30%." (Via the CDC.)
• Infographic: High Cholesterol's Heart Disease Risk Factor (via the NIH).

Cholesterol Education: Related ProgramsThe CDC also leverages Cholesterol Education Month to promote its Million Hearts® initiative — "a national effort to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the United States by 2017, by bringing together communities, health systems, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and private sector partners." Cholesterol awareness and management is critical to this initiative.
The CDC's National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention program also supports cholesterol awareness, in the form of "evidence-based practices in community and clinical settings, specifically highlighting cholesterol control within communities."
Cholesterol Education Month: Additional Facts & InformationSometimes, the simple facts are the most powerful. "Fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and clean cooking without lots of added oils and salt can lower blood pressure and cholesterol, prevent or even reverse heart disease, combat diabetes, curb cancer risks, reduce inflammation and, in doing all that, trim your waistline and give you more energy," as the Toronto Star states, reminding us of the basic importance of dietary habits and food intake not only for cholesterol management, but healthiness and longevity in general.
And throughout its materials on high cholesterol and heart health, the CDC emphasizes high-level tips and resources central to cholesterol awareness and education. "The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends regular cholesterol screening for men aged =35 years, women aged =45 years, and men aged 20–35 years and women aged 20–45 years who are at an increased risk for coronary heart disease," the agency has noted. "The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children have their cholesterol levels measured at ages 9–11 years and again at ages 17–21 years."
"Lowering high cholesterol or maintaining a healthy cholesterol level can reduce the risk for heart attack or stroke," the CDC concludes. "Health behaviors such as engaging in physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, following a heart-healthy diet, and using medication can all contribute to the maintenance of a healthy cholesterol level and decreased risk for heart attack or stroke."

Let Oasis Home Health Nurses show you to manage your high cholesterol today....
Call us at 703-858-9282 or visit our website for more information!!!
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