Over the last century, medics have identified considerable and underlying roles played by high blood pressure in escalating the risks for cardiovascular ailments (Khan, 2006). The disease is the leading cause of death among the American adults. It is estimated that the disease affects over 60 million individuals.
The prevalence of the disease together with its complications is rising radically due to obesity and increased number of aging people. Recent studies indicate that the outstanding lifetime threat for developing the disease is up to 89%, and the likelihood of requiring antihypertensive medication is 60% of the individuals above 50 years (MacGregor & Kaplan, 2010). The purpose of this article is to educate you about hypertension, activity level, and nutrition nursing interventions.
Ninety percent of all the reported cases of the disease are essential in nature. This implies that hypertension is probably genetic in origin. Studies have indicated that a slight fluctuation in sodium management by the kidneys lead to a rise in arterial pressure.
The remaining cases of hypertension are secondary in nature. This percentage is credited to either kidney or an endocrine origin. The major secondary causes of hypertension are chronic kidney diseases, coarctation of the aorta, drug induced, sleep apnea, and thyroid disease. Usually, most patients diagnosed with the disease have family members with a history of hypertension.
Therefore, your evaluation procedures should be used as the first guide to identifying between the two types of hypertension. During this process, you should be able to provide the clinicians with probable secondary causes of the disease. You should note that during this process physical assessment and methodical medical history are of the greatest importance.
In my clinical history, I have noted that patients are not always pleased about being told that they have a medical issue. As such, many patients go through a stage of denial and are opposed to education and the preeminent efforts of the clinicians. I have always emphasized to you and my clients that it is vital for them to be acquainted early on why they require treatment and what the suitable treatment objectives should be.
After you have been diagnosed with hypertension, clinicians should determine the best pharmacotherapy to be adopted. As a patient, you should note that most drugs only decrease the systolic blood pressure by approximately 10 mm Hg. This implies that more than a single control method should be employed in the treatment process.
For effective hypertension management, you should adopt a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle modifications lessen blood pressure, improve antihypertensive drug effectiveness, and reduce cardiovascular risk (Nadar, 2009). These modifications include weight reduction, adoption of low fat vegetarian-like diet, dietary sodium reduction, physical activity, abstaining from smoking, and moderation of alcohol consumption. The most conventional and suggested nutritional intervention is the DASH diet.
The DASH diet relies on an eating strategy that requires individuals to consume a lot of fruits and vegetables and foods with low fat content. Equally, the plan requires individuals to eat foods with low sodium and rich in fiber, calcium, and calcium content. This diet is so efficient that if it is well implemented it can reduce blood pressure in two weeks.
With respect to weight reduction, several studies have indicated that this modification has a direct beneficial effect on hypertension. The results indicate that with a 10% increase in relative weight, the blood pressure increase by 6.5 mm Hg. Medics assert that hypertension related to obesity results from increased peripheral resistance, salt sensitivity, and increased sympathetic nervous system activity.
Hypertension treatment in overweight individuals requires a cautious preliminary assessment on the clients’ diets, habitual activity, and previous weight loss attempts. Obese patients are encouraged to adopt Dash diet and exercise regularly.
Recent studies have shown that there is a connection between sedentary lifestyle and the prevalence of hypertension (Lerma, 2013). The studies indicate that increased physical activity leads to lower levels of blood pressure. Four characteristics of exercise are important to consider for blood pressure lowering.
These are frequency, duration, length, and intensity of the exercise. Low to moderate intensity exercise is more efficient in the reduction of blood pressures compared to higher intensity exercise. Most antihypertensive effect of aerobic exercise is achieved with up to 3 sessions in a week.
Another powerful tool in the reduction of high blood pressure is smoking cessation (Whelton & He, 2003). In your clinical report, it is indicated that you are an active smoker. I want to let you know that smoking enhances arterial stiffness, increases sympathetic activity, destroys the endothelium, and hastens atherosclerosis, consequently increasing the chances of developing hypertension. Therefore, with each cigarette you smoke you increase the chances of those around you to develop hypertension.
Usually, if a smoker is diagnosed with hypertension, he or she should quit smoking because it increases the risk of mortality. This should be a wakeup call for you to quit smoking for the benefit of your family members and yourself. Smoking cessation is related to a reduction in vulnerability to coronary events by up to 50%. Based on the above reasons, I recommend that you adopt smoke cessation program as an important facet of the lifestyle modification approach.
References
Khan, M. I. (2006). Encyclopedia of heart diseases. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic. Lerma, E. V. (2013). Clinical decisions in nephrology, hypertension and kidney transplantation. New York, NY: Springer New York.
MacGregor, G., & Kaplan, N. M. (2010). Hypertension (4th ed.). Abingdon: Health Press.
Nadar, S. (2009). Hypertension. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Whelton, P. K., & He, J. (2003). Lifestyle modification for the prevention and treatment of hypertension. New York: Marcel Dekker.