Do you feel the pressure?

Have you ever joked about stress pushing your blood pressure through the roof? You’re not wrong. We live at a hectic pace and stress at work and at home releases hormones that make your blood pressure spike.

It’s not clear if high blood pressure in the short term leads to hypertension (high blood pressure in the long term) but we do know stress can lead to bad habits like poor diet, excessive alcohol use and smoking, which can increase your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. High blood pressure causes the heart to work harder than normal, which is dangerous and can cause blindness. High blood pressure is a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and premature death.

Know your measurements

In South Africa more than one in three adults live with high blood pressure and it is responsible for one in every two strokes and two in every five heart attacks.

LA Health covers screening tests like a blood pressure measurement from your Screening and Prevention Benefit. You have cover for one Health Check (a set of wellness tests) a year at a pharmacy in the Discovery Wellness Network. This will not affect your day-to-day benefits.

If your blood pressure is higher than 140/90 mm Hg, you may have hypertension. Since hypertension is a Prescribed Minimum Benefit condition, you have cover on any. LA Health Option once you are registered for hypertension on the Chronic Illness Benefit. Medicine is only one part of the solution. Follow a healthy diet and do regular exercise to lower your blood pressure and any associated risks.

Seven tips for managing or avoiding hypertension

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has these tips for managing or preventing high blood pressure:

1. Eat a healthy diet with limited salt, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and some dairy products
2. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day
3. Stop smoking
4. Manage your stress
5. Stay at a healthy weight
6. Cook with less salt and look for Heart Mark products
7. Keep on testing regularly so your blood pressure never catches you by surprise!

References

American Heart Association. Manage stress to control high blood pressure. Accessed 29 June 2018

Southern African Hypertension Society. What is hypertension? Accessed 29 June 2018

The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa. Blood pressure. Accessed 29 June 2018

University of the Witwatersrand. SA has highest blood pressure in southern Africa. Accessed 29 June 2018

WebMD. Stress and high blood pressure: What's the connection? accessed 29 June 2018