University of Maryland cardiologist and hypertension expert Elijah Saunders, M.D., offers advice on controlling your blood pressure and protecting your heart.
The heart, a muscle about the size of a fist, is one of the hardest working organs in our bodies. Over the course of an average life span, it beats about two and a half billion times without ever taking a break. The daily choices we make about how we live our lives determine our hearts' ability to function optimally.
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States. More than 2,600 people die of heart disease every day, which translates into one cardiovascular death every 33 seconds.
University of Maryland cardiologist and hypertension expert Elijah Saunders, M.D., offers advice on controlling your blood pressure and protecting your heart.
The heart, a muscle about the size of a fist, is one of the hardest working organs in our bodies. Over the course of an average life span, it beats about two and a half billion times without ever taking a break. The daily choices we make about how we live our lives determine our hearts' ability to function optimally.
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States. More than 2,600 people die of heart disease every day, which translates into one cardiovascular death every 33 seconds.
Control Your Pressure
The average adult has about five liters of blood flowing through the body via an intricate network of blood vessels called arteries, veins and capillaries. Blood is essential to life for it delivers oxygen from our lungs to our body tissues, and carries harmful waste to the kidneys to be removed. Blood also transports hormones from our glands to various parts of our bodies, as well as vitamins and nutrients from our digestive tracts.
When our blood vessels become clogged due to a plaque buildup of cholesterol and fat, our hearts must work twice as hard to pump enough blood to our vital organs. This is what causes our blood pressure to surge.
As the pressure increases inside of our arteries, veins and capillaries, our hearts become even more overworked. Over time, our hearts grow larger in an effort to compensate for the extra workload and eventually they become weaker.
When you add obesity, smoking, or diabetes to the mix, the risk of heart attack, stroke or kidney disease for those with high blood pressure increases dramatically. This is why it is important to know what your blood pressure is.
Experts recommend that you maintain a blood pressure lower than 140/90 mm Hg at rest. The higher number represents the maximum pressure exerted when the heart contracts (systole). It reflects the stiffness of the large arteries near the heart, and the volume of blood pumped into them. The lower number represents the pressure exerted when the heart begins to relax between beats (diastole), just before the next contraction. It measures the amount of constriction of the body's smaller arteries or arterioles
Good Reasons to Exercise
A great way to lower your blood pressure and combat the corrosive effects of plaque buildup is to exercise. Studies have shown that sedentary lifestyles tend to elevate blood pressure, while regular exercise can reduce it.
According to Saunders, exercise is so effective at controlling blood pressure because it stimulates a substance within our bodies called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is produced by our endothelial cells, which live on the inside layer of our blood vessels.
"Nitric oxide is a substance that helps to keep our blood vessels open," said Saunders. "During the early stages of plaque buildup or arteriosclerosis, one of the first things we see is a reduction in the amount of nitric oxide in the blood vessels. When we exercise, the accelerated pumping of our hearts forces more blood to flow through our vessels. As this blood pushes its way along the lining of our vessels, the endothelial cells release more nitric oxide."
You don't have to spend hours in the gym to reap the healthy benefits of exercise. Walking the dog, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, even vacuuming briskly can increase the blood flow from your heart and through blood vessels.
In addition to regular exercise, a heart-friendly diet is also important, said Saunders. Broiling foods instead of frying them and trimming the skin and fat off of meat all add up to less artery-clogging plaque in your blood vessels.
Say No to Smoking, Excessive Drinking 
Another way to improve your overall cardiovascular health is to quit smoking and drinking a lot of alcohol. While drinking in moderation doesn't seem to have much of an impact on your heart, having more than three drinks a day may contribute to high blood pressure. Alcohol has been shown to raise blood pressure by interfering with the flow of blood to and from the heart. When alcohol courses through your bloodstream, it pushes blood rich in nutrients away from your heart.
Studies have shown that it is much more difficult to control blood pressure if you drink heavily. Conversely, a reduction in alcohol consumption can help lower blood pressure.
Smoking also takes a heavy toll on the heart. According to the American Lung Association, over 400,000 Americans die of smoking-related illnesses each year. This figure includes those affected by secondhand smoke and babies born prematurely due to prenatal, maternal smoking.
Nicotine, one of thousands of chemicals found in cigarettes, causes the blood vessels to constrict. This narrowing of the vessels increases blood pressure.
Nicotine is an extremely addictive chemical. Studies show that nicotine activates the circuits in the brain that regulate pleasurable feelings. It does this by increasing the levels of a chemical found in our brains called dopamine. The U.S. Surgeon General warns that nicotine addiction is similar to heroine and morphine addiction. In fact, when smokers inhale, the nicotine reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously.
Kicking a smoking habit may not be easy, but it is worthwhile. About 1.3 million people quit smoking each year. The benefits of quitting are numerous. They include improved tolerance for exercise, and a reduction in the risk of developing lung cancer, bladder cancer and heart disease.
Three years after giving up nicotine, Saunders said that ex-smokers have a 65 percent reduction in deaths from heart disease relative to those who continue to smoke.
Make Heart-Healthy Changes
Experts urge the public to break those habits that threaten cardiovascular health. Adopting a more heart-healthy approach to life now can have a positive influence on future generations.
"We are all getting too fat in our society and we need to turn things around," said Saunders. "Physical inactivity among our youth is a real problem. We need to make sure that we eat eight servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and get more exercise. We need to get ourselves and our children away from the television sets and the computers, and start them exercising early in their lives.
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