Hypertension prevention can be done in the following ways

High blood pressure or hypertension is a common health condition. In fact, cases of hypertension continue to show an increase from year to year. Based on riskesdas data from the Ministry of Health, the number of hypertension cases in 2018 reached 34.1 percent in Indonesia, whereas in 2013 the number of cases only reached 25.8 percent. These data indicate that prevention of hypertension is still difficult.

In fact, preventing hypertension needs to be done. The reason is, this health condition can cause serious hypertension complications, even though it does not have any special signs or symptoms of high blood pressure. Then, how do you prevent high blood pressure or hypertension?

You can do hypertension prevention in the following ways

High blood pressure or hypertension occurs when blood flow pushes against the arteries with great force. This condition can occur for many reasons. However, most of the risk factors and causes of hypertension, namely an unhealthy lifestyle.

Therefore, adopting a healthy lifestyle is the key to preventing hypertension. In fact, even though you are at high risk of developing hypertension from genetic or hereditary factors, adopting a healthy lifestyle can help you prevent high blood pressure in the future.

For information, genetic factors play a big role in determining your risk of hypertension. According to the European Heart Journal, high blood pressure in the family can be passed on to the next generation with the possibility of reaching 30-50 percent.

Then, how to prevent hypertension? Here are tips for a healthy lifestyle that you need to apply to prevent high blood pressure, both for those of you who have hypertension and those who don't:

1. Reduce salt intake

One of the causes of hypertension, namely the intake of excess salt or sodium in your body. The more salt you eat, the higher your risk of developing blood pressure.

Apart from table salt or table salt, foods that contain high sodium include canned foods, packaged foods, processed foods, frozen or preserved foods, snacks, and fast food.

For that, you should avoid these foods to prevent hypertension. If you really need it, you should check the label of packaged food that you buy and choose foods with low sodium levels.

However, you should cook your own food by choosing fresh ingredients and using a little salt in the dish. You can follow the DASH diet guidelines to make healthy dishes and avoid high blood pressure.

Reducing the salt in your diet is difficult. However, you can do this slowly until you reach the target salt usage you specify.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that you consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium or the equivalent of one teaspoon of salt a day. In this way, you can prevent hypertension and keep blood pressure normal.

2. Eat healthy and nutritious foods

In addition to reducing salt intake, prevention of hypertension also needs to be balanced by eating foods that are healthy and contain the nutrients the body needs.

To fulfill this, you can follow the DASH diet guidelines. Not only for people with hypertension, you can also apply the DASH diet to prevent future increases in blood pressure. The reason is, as you get older, a person's blood pressure tends to increase even though they don't have a history of hypertension.

In implementing a healthy diet, you need to eat foods that are low in fat and cholesterol and high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Protein is also needed, but you must pay attention to its low fat content.

The mineral that plays a role in maintaining blood pressure is potassium. Potassium can balance the salt or sodium levels in your body, so that hypertension prevention occurs.

You can find potassium in a variety of high blood pressure-lowering foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Apart from potassium, other nutrients needed to maintain blood pressure include calcium, magnesium and fiber. In addition to fruit and vegetables, you can fulfill it by eating whole grains or nuts.

Don't forget to drink enough water as a form of prevention of other hypertension. Lack of fluids has the potential to affect the amount of salt in the body.

3. Exercise regularly

Exercise is a necessity for everyone because it can maintain overall body health, including for the prevention of hypertension. In fact, for people with hypertension, exercise can reduce the need to take high blood medication.

In fact, people who exercise regularly have a lower risk of hypertension than those who don't exercise at all. The reason is, physical activity or regular exercise can strengthen your heart, so it can pump blood more easily.

A strong heart can prevent damage to blood vessels, so it avoids atherosclerosis or narrowing of blood vessels due to the buildup of fat or plaque on the arterial walls. The healthy blood vessels can improve blood flow and keep blood pressure at a normal level.

To prevent hypertension and maintain normal blood pressure, you should do exercise for 30 minutes a day five times a week. This method is sufficient to prevent and reduce the risk of developing hypertension.

No need to choose activities that are too difficult, exercise for hypertension is enough to be done in a relaxed manner, jogging , or cycling. Other aerobic sports, such as swimming, can also be an option to do during leisure time.

Not only adults, children and adolescents also need to get used to regular exercise. At the very least, children and adolescents need to exercise for one hour every day to keep their bodies in shape and avoid the risk of hypertension.

4. Maintain ideal body weight

People who are overweight or obese are at greater risk of developing hypertension, up to two to six times that of people who are not obese. Therefore, maintaining ideal body weight is one of the important hypertension prevention efforts.

Based on the site Obesity Action Coalition , as many as 26% of cases of hypertension in men and 28% in women associated with being overweight, including obesity.

This happens because obese sufferers have excess fat tissue in their bodies, so that the resistance of their blood vessels increases. This condition can cause the heart to work harder and blood pressure to increase.

Try to maintain an ideal body weight by changing your lifestyle to be healthier. Eating low-calorie foods and adopting a healthy diet and regular exercise, as described above, you can do to be able to maintain your weight and prevent high blood pressure.

5. Limit alcohol consumption

Drinking alcohol too much and often can increase blood pressure drastically. If you drink several glasses at a time, your blood pressure increases temporarily. However, drinking too often can trigger hypertension in the long run.

Not only that, alcohol is a drink that contains quite high calories. Drinking alcohol too often can certainly have a bad effect on your body weight, especially if you are already overweight, so the risk of developing hypertension is even higher.

Therefore, it's a good idea to reduce drinking alcohol as a form of prevention of hypertension. For adults, you shouldn't drink more than two glasses a day. It would be even better if you stopped drinking alcohol altogether.

6. Limit caffeine intake

Apart from alcohol, you also need to limit your caffeine intake to prevent hypertension. The caffeine content can be found in various beverages, such as coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks.

Caffeine is known to increase blood pressure in some people, especially those who rarely consume caffeinated coffee. Reporting from the NHS, consuming more than four cups of coffee every day can increase blood pressure.

Therefore, you should not consume more caffeinated drinks than this limit to prevent high blood pressure. Drink tea and coffee to a reasonable extent and don't make them your main source of fluids.

7. Stop smoking

Cigarettes are not only bad for lung health, they can also increase your risk of developing hypertension and heart disease.

Nicotine and other harmful substances in cigarettes can raise blood pressure and heart rate by narrowing and hardening your arteries (atherosclerosis). If this continues, you are more at risk of developing other diseases, such as strokes and heart attacks.

Therefore, you need to avoid smoking as a form of prevention against hypertension. If you already smoke, you should immediately stop smoking from now on. You can ask the help of those closest to you or a doctor to stop this habit.

8. Manage stress

Stress is a condition that is very natural to happen to anyone. In times of stress, your body produces certain hormones that can speed up your heart rate and constrict blood vessels, so blood pressure will rise. However, when the stressors disappear, your blood pressure will return to normal.

However, stress can also cause long-term hypertension if it continues and cannot be controlled. Hence, you need to manage stress well as a way to prevent hypertension.

To manage stress, you need to know the causes of stress that often occur to you. Avoid and deal with these stressors so that they don't repeat themselves the next time.

In addition, do healthy things that can relax you to prevent high blood pressure, such as listening to music, meditation, yoga, or doing your hobbies. If you need help, don't hesitate to consult a psychologist about your problems.

9. Get enough sleep

Having adequate sleep is very important for the overall health of the body. Adequate sleep can prevent stress and maintain a healthy heart and blood vessels.

On the other hand, lack of sleep can cause various health problems. One of them, lack of sleep can cause hypertension.

Therefore, you should have enough sleep every day. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get 7-9 hours of sleep a night each day. If it is less than that time, the risk of developing various diseases, such as heart disease and stroke, will be easier.

10. Treat your disease

In addition to adopting a healthy lifestyle as described above, you also need to treat any medical conditions or other diseases that you suffer from. The reason is, certain medical conditions or diseases can cause hypertension, which is a type of secondary hypertension.

Several medical conditions can cause hypertension, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), diabetes, kidney disease, problems with the adrenal glands, and others that cause secondary hypertension.

If this happens to you, you should do regular checkups according to the advice of your doctor. Also do the treatment and management of these medical conditions according to the provisions given by the doctor, so that the medical condition you are suffering from does not get worse and does not develop into hypertension.

In addition, you also need to be careful if you want to take drugs. The reason is, some drugs, such as birth control pills, are another cause of secondary hypertension.

Always consult your doctor if you need to take certain drugs. In addition, also avoid illegal drugs, such as cocaine, for the prevention of hypertension.

11. Check blood pressure regularly

Another important thing you need to do to prevent high blood pressure is to check your blood pressure regularly and periodically. This way, you can find out whether your blood pressure is normal or not.

The reason is, high blood pressure or hypertension does not have specific symptoms. Checking blood pressure is the only way to find out if you have hypertension or not.

The blood pressure is classified as normal, which is below 120/80 mmHg, while that is classified as hypertension when it reaches 140/90 mmHg or more. However, if your blood pressure results are between 120-139 / 80-89 mmHG, this is a sign that you have prehypertension.

Prehypertension is very likely to cause hypertension if not controlled. If this happens to you, you can immediately make lifestyle changes to lower your blood pressure and prevent the increase in blood pressure.

Then, how often should you check your blood pressure? Regular blood pressure checks should be done from the age of three. Anyone over the age of three needs to have their blood pressure checked at least once a year.

Check your blood pressure more often if you have genetic or hereditary risk factors, prehypertension, or even already have hypertension, to prevent blood pressure from getting higher. Ask your doctor to find out how often you need to check your blood pressure according to your condition.

Check blood pressure can be done in several places. Apart from clinics or hospitals, blood pressure checks can be done at a pharmacy that has a digital tensimeter device or at home with the tensimeter device that you bought. Ask your doctor or nurse about checking your blood pressure at home and how often you need to do it.

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