High Diastolic blood pressure: 9 Causes and 9 Remedies
High Diastolic blood pressure is defined as diastolic pressure more than 80 mmHg. If the diastolic blood pressure is mildly elevated and if you don’t have any other cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes, smoking, obesity, history of heart diseases, etc, then you need not worry much about the elevated diastolic pressure.
But, if you do have other cardiovascular risk factors mentioned above in addition to elevated Diastolic pressure, you will have an increased risk for developing heart disease and other diseases. So, you will need to consult your physician and take appropriate treatment to control the diastolic pressure.
Causes of High Diastolic blood pressure:
Our normal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg. In this 120 mmHg is the systolic blood pressure and the 80 mmHg is the diastolic blood pressure.
Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure that the blood exerts on the arteries or your blood channels in between heartbeats when the heart relaxes. There are several causes for the elevation of diastolic blood pressure. They are:
Genetic factors:
Genetic factors play a pivotal role in developing various disorders like Diabetes or high blood sugar levels and also high blood pressure levels. So, if your parents, grandparents or siblings have High Diastolic pressure, it is more likely that you too end up having elevated diastolic blood pressure.
Age:
As the age of the people increases, they are more prone to have high blood pressure including diastolic blood pressure. It can be due to various factors like becoming sedentary, obesity, etc. Women over the age of 45 and males over the age of 55 are at increased risk of developing elevated diastolic blood pressure.
Gender:
In general, men are at a higher risk of developing increased Diastolic blood pressure than women of the same age group.
Smoking and alcohol:
We all know that smoking and alcohol in excess quantities are not good for health. They act as cardiovascular risk factors and increase the risk of developing high blood pressure and also heart diseases. Smoking is more dangerous than alcohol consumption.
Obesity:
We all need to try to maintain our weight within the ideal range for our height and age. If we are having obesity, we are at an increased risk of contracting various diseases of the heart, kidneys, brain and also high blood pressure.
Race:
Race or ethnicity also has a role in determining the risk of the development of various diseases. African race people are also more prone to develop elevated Diastolic blood pressure in comparison to Caucasians or Asians as per some studies.
Drugs:
Certain medications are also known to increase blood pressure. Some examples of such drugs include steroid medications, some analgesics like aspirin, nasal decongestant medications, etc.
Salt:
Intake of excess salt is not good for our health. Excess salt intake leads to water retention in the body and it increases the blood pressure including diastolic blood pressure.
Diseases:
There are certain diseases of various organs in the body which can lead to High Diastolic pressure. Diseases of kidneys, heart, blood vessels, endocrine glands, etc can lead to elevation of blood pressure.
Remedies to Lower High Diastolic blood pressure:
There are several measures that we can take to control our increased Diastolic pressure and also our blood pressure as a whole. They are:
Healthy Diet:
A healthy diet goes a long way in maintaining our overall health in addition to reducing High Diastolic blood pressure. We need to eat fresh organic fruits and vegetables a lot. We need to try to include fruits and vegetables in every meal.
Reduce the intake of grains and eat more fruits and vegetables. Eat green leafy vegetables more.
Avoid processed foods:
Try to avoid processed foods completely because they contain a lot of salt and unwanted fats which elevate the blood pressure and lead to diseases. Processed foods include all kinds of ready-made foods, snacks, chips, etc.
Exercise:
Try to participate in exercise every day. You can do walking for at least 30 minutes every day. You can join a gym or do yoga. You can go for swimming or cycling. You can go to trekking or adventure sports. The ideas are endless if you want to exercise and you can find creative ways to exercise.
Relaxation techniques:
Stress is known to have an important role in developing various diseases including high pressure. So, we always need to find ways to keep our stress levels low. We can participate in yoga or do deep breathing exercises. We can do a drawing or painting. We can practice meditation.
Reducing Salt:
The molecular formula of salt is NaCl, which is sodium chloride. Sodium leads to water retention. So, excess consumption of salt containing sodium leads to water retention and leads to High diastolic pressure. So, we need to reduce the intake of salt as much as possible.
Eating potassium-containing foods:
Potassium tries to reduce blood pressure in contrast to sodium. So, try to include foods containing potassium more in your diet like bananas, spinach and tomatoes.
Stop smoking:
Smoking damages the walls of the blood vessels and also the heart due to various chemicals present in the cigarettes. It leads to various diseases of the heart, kidneys, lungs and also elevates the blood pressure levels. So, stopping smoking will surely help to reduce blood pressure levels and to prevent various other diseases.
Avoid alcohol:
Alcohol also has a role in developing some diseases of the liver and also to increase blood pressure. So, avoid alcohol as much as possible. Also, restrict the quantity of alcohol which you take.
Taking Prescription medicines:
If your blood pressure or diastolic pressure is high despite taking all the above measures, then you need to take prescription medicines to control blood pressure from your physician. They will surely bring down your blood pressure levels, including High diastolic pressure.
I hope you have understood all the different causes of High diastolic pressure. We will meet you with another informative article.
