Recently I’ve been made a concern with my family regarding my blood pressure. Now being of age 21 I didn’t think id even be considering having to tackle high blood pressure at such a young age I mean who gets a high blood pressure at 21. Well I’m telling you as I was told it can happen. And I’m sure as well know in this world anything can happen. All things can turn towards your good or towards your bad you just have to be ready to deal with them.

Now as much as I should be worried regarding having a high blood pressure for my age, I’m not. In fact I’m delighted, not for the reason that I have this slight condition. It’s nothing to be happy about, I mean I only have a higher risk of having a stroke or heart attack at such a young age. Needless to say that I Cleary haven’t been concentrating on my health so much recently. But the point of my delight comes from having found out sooner rather than later. I cant imagine if I had never known, if my eyes hadn’t been opened by my caring and loving family members.

The discovery of my high blood pressure came from a recent BPM (blood pressure monitor check) one of my aunts did on me. Now my average is suppose to be around 120, or lower, as a reading for my age. Mine came out 20 digits higher at 140 average this is considered (after contacting the NHS with concern) to be the average of a 30-45 year old. Ok so this is a little worrying it makes me think hey what else could be wrong with me that I don’t know about.

It starts to make you wonder and think of how many thousands of possible blood defects, heart problems, sugar problems, joint problems and all sorts there are out there, and take you to the point of paranoia in some cases just from worrying about ho many of those you might be a victim of. Is there a solution to all of it though is there a way to try and avoid all or any other conditions that you may be open to? Well in the laws of the universe, no! You can run but you can’t hide. But on an individual basis there are general self health things that you can do to try to keep your heart body and mind healthy.

Start off by buying a family health book

These are great in helping you to keep you and you’re family’s health in top notch. You can’t ever know when any of you are going to get ill or catch a bug so staying prepared with all the information to hand is very help full for you and for the sick one.

A family health book will cover all of the possible situations and care taking that’s needed to keep all of your inner bodies in shape.

Some of the ones I have come across are laid out as full on encyclopaedias explaining in great detail of symptoms one can have for such and such illness or bug and what you can do to help them get better or heal up a.s.a.p. its all about information if you know what to do then your less worried and the same rule applies to everything.

High blood pressure

This factsheet is for people who have high blood pressure or for people who would like information about high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is a measure of the force that the blood applies to the walls of the arteries as it flows through them. It’s normal for blood pressure to increase when you exert yourself, or when you feel stressed or anxious. But if your blood pressure is consistently higher than normal at rest, this is high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.

About 3 in 10 adults have high blood pressure in the UK. It is much more common in older people - 7 out of 10 people in their 70s have high blood pressure.

Blood pressure

Blood is pumped around the body by the heart carrying oxygen and nutrients. As a result of the pumping action of the heart and the size and flexibility of the arteries that carry blood, the blood is under pressure. This blood pressure is an essential and normal part of the way the body works.

High blood pressure develops if:

the walls of your larger arteries lose their elasticity and become rigid

the small blood vessels become narrower

Measuring blood pressure

Blood pressure is measured with a monitor called a sphygmomanometer. This is a digital box attached to a tube with a cuff on the end. The cuff is placed around the upper arm and inflated to a certain level, then deflated slowly. A sensor in the cuff provides information about the blood pressure or a doctor or nurse will listen to the blood flow using a stethoscope.

The result is expressed as two numbers, such as 120/80 mm HG (”one hundred and twenty over eighty millimetres of mercury”).

The top figure - the systolic blood pressure - is a measure of the pressure when your heart muscle is contracting and pumping blood. This is the maximum pressure in your blood system.

The bottom figure - the diastolic blood pressure - is the pressure between heart beats when the heart is resting and filling with blood. This is the minimum pressure in your blood system.

In the UK, high blood pressure is defined as a consistently increased systolic blood pressure of 140 or over and/or a diastolic blood pressure of 85 or over. If your blood pressure is around this level, your doctor will probably want to monitor it regularly.

If you suffer from diabetes, it is even more important that your blood pressure is lower than this - ideally less than 130/80.

Why I’m not worried

Well firstly because I have such a caring close knit family. Secondly because I already know how to prevent this slight problem firstly from getting any worse and secondly to get rid of altogether. It can be a bit of a shock when you think you’re fine and fit but you get told your not. I suppose its part of being an imperfect creature as we are. But thank god we have been given the ability to heal our selves through learning the causes of symptoms and how to cure them.

I’ve kept my cool about this because I have a wealth of information on it in my health book and the internet provides some great guides on every aspect of health as well. You can’t know about everything, even the most intelligent man in the world wont know he is coming down with a cold until he can feel the symptoms. Health problems are not something you can totally avoid and not all of them are even treatable but then most you can avoid and most are treatable so it works both ways.

For blood pressure get yourself a blood pressure monitor It is important to take readings on different days - for example you should not just measure yourself when you feel stressed. Set days in the week to take the measurement so that you can get an objective reading. You should continue to get your blood tested regularly by your doctor even if you use a blood pressure monitor at home.