Hypertension, also called the ‘silent killer’ can be managed and prevented by making some low-cost lifestyle changes.

Hypertension or high Blood Pressure, as it is commonly called, is a condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is chronically elevated.

With each heartbeat, heart pumps blood through the arteries to the body. Blood pressure is the pressure or force with which blood is pushed against the walls of the blood vessels.

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Mobile phone calls may cause a rise in blood pressure; yoga may lower it; and despite the need to cut back on sodium to lower blood pressure, hypertensive individuals may have an increased desire for saltier foods.

These are the findings of new studies to be discussed at the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) in San Francisco, starting May 15 – 18, 2013.

Members of the medical community from across the globe will discuss the about high blood pressure, considered as the “silent killer,” and which affects approximately one billion people worldwide.

During the conference, more than 200 new studies about hypertension will be shared, with the goal of increasing the understanding of hypertension and one day curing it altogether.

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A cup of beetroot juice a day may help reduce your blood pressure, a new study led by an Indian researcher has found.

People with high blood pressure who drank about 8 ounces of beetroot juice experienced a decrease in blood pressure of about 10 mm Hg.

But the preliminary findings don’t yet suggest that supplementing your diet with beetroot juice benefits your health, researchers said.

“Our hope is that increasing one’s intake of vegetables with a high dietary nitrate content, such as green leafy vegetables or beetroot, might be a lifestyle approach that one could easily employ to improve cardiovascular health,” Amrita Ahluwalia, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a professor of vascular pharmacology at The Barts and The London Medical School in London, said.

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As many as a half a million American lives could be saved if they all ate a fraction of a teaspoon of salt less every day, according to a new study.

The study found that a gradual decrease in salt consumption over a decade — ending in a 40 percent reduction — would prolong the lives of between 280,000 and 500,000 people by decreasing the risk of hypertension and heart disease.

“It certainly confirms the enormous potential value in reducing the consumption of sodium,” Michael Jacobson, executive director of the consumer watchdog Center for Science in the Public Interest said.

The study is novel in that three groups of researchers using different methods all came to the same conclusion, he said.

Americans ingest, on average, 3,600 milligrams of sodium daily, compared with 1,500 recommended by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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An experienced clinical dietician, nutrition specialist and a Reebok Certified Fitness Consultant, Sheela Tanna has counselled at various health camps.

She deals with lifestyle disease management like diabetes, blood pressure, cardio vascular diseases, obesity, PCOD etc. Her special interests include child nutrition, menopause management, arthitis, hair and skin care.

Sheela answered Sify readers’ queries related to diet and nutrition in an exlusive chat. Read the transcript below

Why is Protien a vital element is our diet and from where do we get it ?
proten is building block of our body.. We need it on regular basis for wear and tear of tissues.. Natural diet like dals, pulses,lean meat has enough protein..No need to buy supplements.

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People who were showing the early signs of high blood pressure were able to restore readings to healthy levels in just six weeks if they had an extra hour in bed every night, a new study found.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is thought to be responsible for half of all heart attacks and strokes, and lack of sleep and a stressful lifestyle have long been associated with an increased risk of the condition.

But the new study, carried out at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, is one of the first to prove that blood pressure can be brought under control by simply increasing sleep duration, the Daily Mail reported.

Researchers recruited 22 middle aged men and women who either had prehypertension, where their readings were not excessively high but had been increasing and were on target to reach dangerous levels.

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Loss of sleep due to all-night study sessions to prepare for final exams actually work against students striving to perform well, a sleep specialist has claimed.

Dr. Philip Alapat, medical director, Harris Health Sleep Disorders Center, and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, recommends students to instead study throughout the semester, set up study sessions in the evening and get at least 8 hours of sleep the night before exams.

“Memory recall and ability to maintain concentration are much improved when an individual is rested,” Alapat said.

“By preparing early and being able to better recall what you have studied, your ability to perform well on exams is increased,” he said.

While college-aged students ideally should get 8-9 hours of sleep a night, truth is that most generally get much less.

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A healthy Heart. A dream for all. Although most of us are aware that bad eating habit increases the chance of a heart attack, the fact is, it is a combination of a number of factors that promote a healthy heart.

“Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s largest killers, claiming 17.3 million lives a year. Risk factors for heart disease and stroke include raised blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, smoking, inadequate intake of fruit and vegetables, overweight, obesity and physical inactivity.”(1)  This is a press release statement from WHO, which in a nutshell tell about the reason for a heart attack.

What is the need of the hour?(2)

1. Eat a healthy, balanced diet

Top foods for a healthy heart (3)
· Salmon / Tuna / Sardines: They are rich in Omega 3 that helps in reducing blood clots, inflammation and keeps the cholesterol at a healthy level.
Tandoori Fish, sardines greens stew, fish in mustard gravy

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Suggesting that eating little and often is healthier for us, experts have said that we should eat as many as nine meals every day.

They say this may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and even encourage weight loss, the Daily Mail reported.

“Splitting food intake so we eat many times a day will have metabolic benefits over and above the same food consumed in a small number of meals,” the paper quoted Dr Susan Jebb, head of the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research Unit, as saying.

In one of the latest studies, scientists from Imperial College, London, compared the diets of more than 2,000 people from the UK, Japan, China and the U.S.

While they all had the same calorie intake and food, half the participants ate fewer than six times a day, while the remainder ate more than six times.

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People who cooked with a blend of sesame and rice bran oils saw a significant drop in blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels, according to a study conducted in New Delhi.

The researchers found cooking with a combination of these oils in a variety of ways worked nearly as well as a commonly prescribed high blood pressure medication, and that the use of the oil blend with medication yielded even more impressive results.

“Rice bran oil, like sesame oil, is low in saturated fat and appears to improve a patient’s cholesterol profile,” said Devarajan Sankar, M.D, Ph.D., a research scientist in the Department of Cardiovascular Disease at Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital in Chikushino, Japan.

“Additionally, it may reduce heart disease risk in other ways, including being a substitute for less healthy oils and fats in the diet,” he noted.

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