High blood pressure: Age, ethnicity and earnings linked to poor blood pressure control
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The British Medical Association has printed eye-opening research that suggests a person’s age, ethnicity and income impacts their blood pressure control. Here are the details. The findings indicated that people over the age of 60, those of black ethnicity, and people earning below £18,000 per year are less likely to have their blood pressure under control. These results are based on a population sample of half a million people aged between 40 to 69 years old.
Other factors associated with poor blood pressure control included:
- Male gender
- Drinking 30 or more units of alcohol per week
- Obesity
- Low educational attainment
- Manual labour jobs
Nevertheless, there are some caveats, cautioned the researchers, as no data was available as to whether people were sticking to their recommended medication use.
This understandably could influence the results, so the findings need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
“More research is needed to understand barriers to [high blood pressure] control,” the researchers noted.
Alarmingly high blood pressure readings significantly increase a person’s risk of stroke, heart attacks and an early grave.
Successfully lowering blood pressure can cut the number of strokes by up to 40 percent, heart attacks by 25 percent and heart failure by 50 percent.
How to lower blood pressure
Penn Medicine recommended “regular physical activity” to lower blood pressure readings naturally.
There are numerous health benefits to exercising more, such as:
- Control high blood pressure
- Helps manage your weight
- Strengthens heart muscle
- Lowers stress level
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People should aim for “at least 150 minutes” of moderate-intensity physical activity every week.
Another health recommendation brought forward by Penn Medicine is to “eat less salt”.
This can achieved by cutting down on processed foods, not adding salt to your cooking, and looking for low-salt options on nutrition labels.
In addition, increasing your potassium intake will also help to control your blood pressure.
Potassium can “help regulate heart rate” and “reduce the effects of sodium [i.e. salt] in the body”.
Eating potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, can help the body remove excess salt and eases tension in the blood vessel walls – these combined will lower your blood pressure.
Potassium-rich foods:
- Fruits like bananas, melons, oranges, apricots, avocados and tomatoes
- Milk, yogurt and cream cheese
- Leafy green vegetables, potatoes and sweet potatoes
- Tuna and salmon
- Beans
- Nuts and seeds
People with kidney disease are cautioned to “avoid consuming too much potassium, because your kidneys may not be able to eliminate it”.
Penn Medicine also suggest to “limit your alcohol consumption”, as the toxin can contribute to body fat and weight gain – two risk factors for high blood pressure.
“If you’re currently taking medication to treat high blood pressure, you should be especially mindful of your alcohol intake,” said Penn Medicine.
This is because alcohol can reduce the effectiveness of blood pressure medication.
It’s also a good idea to manage stress levels by “taking time to relax and enjoy life”.
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