Can high blood pressure be treated "without drugs"? Doctor: Develop "6 habits" to avoid the risk of stroke and blindness
**Text/Dr. Zhuang Boyu, Department of Community Medicine, New Taipei City Hospital **
Uncontrolled high blood pressure may lead to stroke and blindness! Doctor reveals “6 tricks” to lower blood pressure without taking medicine
If high blood pressure is not well controlled for a long time, it will gradually cause a variety of complications, such as stroke, heart failure, kidney damage, blindness, etc. However, many people are worried about the side effects of the use of drugs. For people who want to try non-drug blood pressure control, the following suggestions are provided:
Reduce salt intake. Avoid foods with high sodium content, such as pickled products, smoked products, shacha sauce, bean paste, black bean paste, etc. Strong flavored condiments.
Quit drinking.
Lose weight. According to statistics from the Taiwan Health Promotion Administration, more than half of Taiwan’s population over the age of 45 is overweight or obese. Perhaps for many gourmets, it is not easy to achieve good weight control. However, weight control brings The effect is also amazing. For a patient who is 10 kilograms overweight, just losing this extra weight can reduce the systolic blood pressure by 10 mm of mercury, which is the effect of a blood pressure pill.
Quit smoking. In addition to increasing the risk of many cancers such as lung cancer, oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, etc., the use of cigarettes can also aggravate the degree of arteriosclerosis. In addition, the nicotine in cigarettes can also increase the heart rate and blood pressure. This dual mechanism can increase blood pressure. Control becomes more difficult and significantly increases the risk of future cardiovascular disease. In view of the above, quitting smoking is a topic that every smoker cannot ignore or avoid, regardless of whether they have high blood pressure or not.
Diet control. Research has found that the Diet approach to stop hypertension (DASH) is quite effective in controlling blood pressure. It is a dietary pattern with core content – high fiber, high calcium, high magnesium, and high potassium. Those who are interested People can choose to eat unrefined whole grains (brown rice, five-grain rice) for two meals a day, consume more than 5 servings of vegetables and fruits every day, supplement with low-fat milk to provide calcium, reduce the intake of red meat, and replace it with peeled meat. White meat as a substitute.
Exercise. In the busy modern life, people often overlook the importance of exercise. In addition to helping to control blood pressure and maintain cardiopulmonary function, exercise can also reduce the risk of future cognitive impairment. For adults, it is recommended to arrange it 3-7 days a week for a total of 150 minutes of aerobic exercise, combined with resistance exercise twice a week.
