What is Hypertension?
Hypertension, (high blood pressure) is when your blood pressure is regularly higher than recommended healthy levels.
Most people do not realise they have it because it does not cause any obvious symptoms. But it’s one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
What is blood pressure?
It is a measure of the pressure created in arteries as the heart pumps blood around the body. It fluctuates throughout the day, due to emotional states and
Blausen.com staff. “Blausen gallery 2014”. Wikiversity Journal of Medicine.
physical activity levels at any one particular time. A problem develops when the blood pressure readings stay too high over an extended period of time. This is hypertension; meaning ‘over pressure’.
High blood pressure is sometimes called the ‘silent killer’ and it accounts for up to 25% of all deaths worldwide. Records show that it affects about 33% people worldwide. That’s about 18 million people in the UK!
In 90% of cases of hypertension medical practitioners are unable to find a physical cause, so by that reasoning it must be psychological in origin, ( am not entirely sure about that).
About your blood pressure reading
Everybody need a minimum level of pressure topump the blood around your body.
Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and is written as two numbers, for example, 120/80 mmHg. This is said as ‘120 over 80’.
- The first number is the systolic The pressure in the arteries when the heart beats and pushes blood through the body.
- The second number is the diastolicblood pressure. The pressure in the arteries when the heart is in-between
There is no such thing as a worldwide ‘typical or normal’ blood pressure reading. However; one has been set at 115/75 mmHg. The one for high blood pressure is 140/90 or higher over a period of weeks.
If you had a reading of 160/100 mmHg it will have a significant impact on your health and requires remedial action ASAP to lower it. This hypertension at the top end. However, there are other factors that may be taken into account and treatment can vary from one person to another.
| Classification of blood pressure for adults | ||
| Category | systolic, mm Hg | diastolic, mm Hg |
| Normal | 90–119 | 60–79 |
| High normal Prehypertension |
120–139 | 80–89 |
| Stage 1 hypertension | 140–159 | 90–99 |
| Stage 2 hypertension | 160–179 | 100–109 |
| Stage 3 hypertension Hypertensive emergency |
≥180 | ≥110 |
| Isolated systolic hypertension | ≥140 | <90 |
So what causes Hypertension?
The most common risk factors which can cause high blood pressure are:
The health of your heart, arteries and kidneys
Woman having a pain in the heart – possible heart attack due to Hypertension
Around 5-10% of cases of high blood pressure are caused by an underlying medical condition, such as diabetes, kidney disease or a hormonal disorder. High blood pressure caused by identifiable diseases are known as Secondary Hypertension and, although rare, they require medical treatment – which is why your Hypnotension Practitioner will only work with you in conjunction with the primary medical care of your GP.
Secondary hypertension can also be caused by a reaction to various household medications. Here are 5 hidden high blood pressure dangers in the home.
Your emotional ‘stress’ levels
Whenever we feel threatened, the survival response kicks in and our bodies flood with stress hormones which get us ready to ‘fight’ or ‘flee’ from the threat.
Unfortunately, the stresses of modern living can’t easily be fought or escaped. This tends to leave us in a constant state of emotional ‘red alert’ – and ongoing high levels of stress hormones causes high blood pressure.
Studies on working men and women in the USA, for example, found that those with most responsibility for running the home had significantly higher blood pressure than those who left it to their partner.
Stress can be caused by many things, and not everyone reacts to the same triggers, so it’s important to discover your own triggers and take steps to reduce them.
How much salt you eat?
Salt is essential for the health of our bodies. Unfortunately, most of us eat so much that it puts us at risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and heart disease. That’s because salt causes the bloodstream to hold more water than necessary, increasing the volume and pressure of blood, which puts excessive strain on your body.
Generally a measurable risk is seen when we consume more than 2g of salt per day. Compare that to the current UK guideline of 6g salt per day! (THIS IS BEING CHALLENGED BY NEW RESEARCH)
How much exercise you do?
Exercise not only helps maintain healthy blood vessels for good circulation in the body and brain, it also eats up blood sugars, lowering the risk of diabetes.
Most importantly, exercise can mop up and decrease the amount of ‘stress hormones’ in the body. Y
How much alcohol you drink?
Many people use alcohol as a way to relax and unwind, but it has a strong effect on blood pressure, and studies have found high blood pressure reduces by around 1 mm for each unit-per-day decrease in alcohol consumption.
How overweight you are?
Over two thirds of men and over half of women in the UK and USA are overweight or obese, which means a body mass index over 25. Weight has a significant effect on high blood pressure. Studies show that for every Kg (2.2lbs) extra weight we carry, our blood pressure is around 1mmHg higher.
Reduce your High Blood Pressure
As you can see, the programme effectively targets 5 out of the 6 main risk factors which cause high blood pressure. It is known that if you reduce these risk factors that it is highly likely that you will not only reduce your high blood pressure but also improve your overall health dramatically.
Flourish Hypnotherapy Treatment Sessions
Flourish Hypnotherapy is Phase 1 of the Flourish Programme. It can get people where they need to be in just 2-3 sessions.
The Flourish Programme is in 2 phases – Phase 1: Working on the immediate problems using Flourish Hypnotherapy.
Phase 2: Life Builder© to provide ongoing support until recovery is complete. (Optional – not all people need this).
What happens in a session
The Flourish Programme is an amazingly effective and empowering way to significantly improve your situation.
- You will connect to the real you – the person before the hypertension took hold.
- You will be able to completely change the way you think and feel about yourself, enabling you to live a happier and positive life.
- You will be able to remember the abuse occurred but not have all that negative clutter associated with it.
Most people can work through their problems in 3 hours of Flourish Hypnotherapy. If we need to work on weight loss, smoking, drinking and exercise we will pobably need more sessions. Some people may need a session or so of Life Builder afterwards.