Your blood pressure is a measure of the pressure in your arteries as your heart pumps blood around your body. It naturally changes throughout the day, depending on your emotional state and physical activity levels, but when it stays consistently too high over time it is known as high blood pressure or ‘hypertension’, which literally means ‘over pressure’.
High blood pressure accounts for 20-25% of all deaths worldwide and affects approximately one in three people worldwide. That’s over 16 Million people in the UK, and 50 million people in the USA. Unfortunately, in 90% of cases of high blood pressure (the ‘Primary’ or ‘Essential’ Hypertension cases), doctors are unable to find a physical cause – and that’s where the Hypnotension™ programme can help.
About your blood pressure reading
A certain amount of pressure is need to pump the blood around your body. The pressure is highest as the heart pumps blood into the arteries, and lowest when the heart is resting in-between beats.
Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and is written as two numbers, for example, 120/80 mmHg. This is said as ’120 over 80′.
- The top (first) number is the systolic pressure. This is the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats and forces blood around the body.
- The bottom (second) number is the diastolic pressure. This is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is resting in between beats.
A typical normal blood pressure reading is under 120/80 mmHg, and high blood pressure is defined as a reading of 140/90 or higher over a period of several weeks. Remember that many things can affect your blood pressure reading, so one high reading does not necessarily mean high blood pressure.
A blood pressure of 160/100 mmHg or above carries a significant risk to health and generally requires medication to lower it. However, there are other factors that may be taken into account and medication can vary from one person to another.
In addition, high blood pressure can be:
- Just a high systolic pressure, e.g. 160/70 mmHg.
- Just a high diastolic pressure, e.g. 120/100 mmHg.
- Or both, e.g. 160/100 mmHg.
Doctors generally recommend that blood pressure is kept below 120/80, and ideally around 115/75.
Factors affecting blood pressure
There are many physical, emotional and lifestyle factors which affect blood pressure. The most common risk factors are:
- The health of your heart, arteries and kidneys
- Your emotional ‘stress’ levels
- How much salt you eat
- How much exercise you do
- How much alcohol you drink
- How overweight you are
The Hypnotension™ programme effectively targets 5 out of the 6 main risk factors. It is known that if you reduce these risk factors that it is highly likely that you will not only reduce your high blood pressure but also improve your overall health dramatically.
