Your blood pressure is the measure of the blood that is pumping around your body. This is something that your doctor will keep a close eye on throughout your life. High or low blood pressure can be one of the first indications that something is wrong.
Hypertension or high blood pressure is when your blood pressure levels exceed the normal range. You may not even feel any discomfort but over time it means that your heart is working harder than it should. If high blood pressure is left untreated it can cause an increased risk of kidney disease, heart failure and stroke.
Identifying the causes of high blood pressure in young adults is very important, since it will mean the long term damage will not have time to present itself.
How do you get your blood pressure checked?
You can have your blood pressure checked each time you visit your doctor. You will also find that in many pharmacies there are self-service blood pressure monitoring machines that you can use for free.
You can use these whenever you want and it is always a good idea to take a picture of the reading then save it to a folder. This will create a record of what your blood pressure was at a given time and date.
What is considered high blood pressure?
It is important to know what the healthy range of high and low blood pressure is. There are two readings usually 130/80 for example. The two numbers are the systolic number and the diastolic number respectively. The normal range for an adult would be less than 120/80. This is often described as “120 over 80.”
High blood pressure would be 130/80 and above. If you find that your blood pressure is at this or higher, you should seek some medical advice. If your blood pressure is higher than 180/120 you should seek medical attention right away. This is known as a hypertension crisis and can be very serious.
To help combat high blood pressure it is always good to know what can cause it. The causes of high blood pressure in young adults are often environmental and dietary. Here are seven common causes that you should work to avoid:
1. Smoking
This can cause a lot of health issues and should be stopped right away. Smoking has been proven to raise blood pressure and due to the habitual nature of nicotine use can cause chronic hypertension throughout someone’s life. Which as we mentioned can be very harmful in the long run.
2. Obesity
Carrying around too much weight makes your heart work overtime as it is. This can raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels over time. Weight gain can also cause a wide variety of health concerns. It will not be easy to lose the weight, but it will be a lot easier the younger you are.
3. Lack of exercise
When we talk about exercise, we don’t mean that you need to be in the gym every day of the week. Even a brisk walk two to three times a week will help your cardiovascular system out a great deal. The best advice for combating causes of high blood pressure in young adults is to avoid all-or-nothing thinking.
When you are able to go and get some exercise. This might not make you super thin, but if you can make this a habit over a lifetime it will do wonders for the health of your heart.
4. Salty foods
A diet that has too much salt in it can cause hypertension. Watching what you eat can have a lot of health benefits. If in doubt, make sure that you speak with your doctor or a nutritionist to ensure that you are getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs to become and stay healthy.
5. Alcohol
Even just a few drinks every day can cause a spike in your blood pressure. It is very important that you keep a close eye on your blood pressure so that all of the habits that you have that seem harmless are not contributing to long term damage.
6. Stress
This can be a very big contributor to the health of your heart. Anytime that you get stressed your blood pressure will invariably increase. So while a lot of stress in your life is unavoidable, it is something that you should be mindful of. There are many ways of managing stress from regular exercise to meditation.
7. Genetic factors
Sometimes, the causes of high blood pressure in young adults is not caused by environmental factors. If you have a family history of high blood pressure, then you are much more likely to develop it at some stage of your life. If your parents or grandparents have high blood pressure you should make sure that you are getting checked on a regular basis.
