Stress Management lowers High Blood Pressure
There’s a reason why checking a patient’s blood pressure is always one of the first things done by a nurse or doctor. High blood pressure affects close to a third of the American population, and it doesn’t show any symptoms.
It also comes with a lot of serious health risks. High blood pressure is when your blood is putting too much force on the walls of your blood vessels, which causes damage over time. This damage makes it hard for blood to get to important organs which can eventually lead to serious complications such as kidney disease, heart disease, or a stroke or heart attack.
Stress and Anxiety cause High Blood Pressure
The connection between chronic high blood pressure also called hypertension, and stress and anxiety is still being researched. What we do know is when we get stressed out, our body releases cortisol and adrenaline into our blood stream. These “fight or flight” hormones cause our heart to beat faster and our blood vessels to get smaller, which in turn causes a temporary spike in blood pressure. This puts us in somewhat of a hyperactive state, which would be effective if either fighting or fleeing could solve all our problems.
But in today’s world that’s not usually the case. Our problems are generally less dangerous and more frequent than they were thousands of years ago. For people who get stressed out easily, the extra strain regularly put on their blood vessels can cause damage over time.
For people who already have hypertension, stress can only make the risks greater. With the damage that high blood pressure is already causing on your blood vessels and organs, keeping your stress under control is very important.
Other Causes of High Blood Pressure
Although stress causes blood pressure to increase temporarily, which is dangerous for people who already have hypertension, anxiety is not known to cause chronic high blood pressure by itself. However, a lot of behaviors people use to cope with stress puts them at a higher risk.
Smoking, drinking alcohol, and an unhealthy diet are all ways that people commonly deal with stress. These behaviors can also all lead to chronic high blood pressure. Fortunately, if these behaviors are stopped, a person’s blood pressure can go back to a healthy level.
Natural treatments for High Blood Pressure
Ways to lower your blood pressure at home include:
- Regular exercise
- Not smoking
- Avoiding alcohol
- A healthy diet
- Eating less salt
Learning to manage stress is also important for keeping your blood pressure under control. When you’re stress-free, unnecessary blood pressure spikes can be avoided, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle becomes easier. Effectively managing stress always leads to a healthier body. A natural solution to treat high blood pressure is Heart Strengths Therapy.
Lower your stress and your blood pressure with Dr. Gary Gruber
Dr. Gary Gruber is a licensed naturopathic practitioner and holistic health counselor. He owns Family and Environmental Medicine where he specializes in helping his patients find natural solutions for high blood pressure that is the result of stress and anxiety.
If you have high blood pressure and need help learning to cope with stress and anxiety in a healthier way, contact Dr. Gary Gruber.
The office of Family and Environmental Medicine is in New Canaan, Connecticut, within walking distance from the New Canaan train station. In the center of Fairfield County his office is only 10 minutes from Stamford and Darien, 20 minutes from Ridgefield, Greenwich, and Westport. An easy ride on the New Haven MetroNorth railroad hour from New York City.