What about new guidelines for heart health

Treatment of high blood pressure today emphasizes lifestyle as much as medicine. Approaches to lowering blood pressure may also include the use of alternative medicines to complement traditional medicines. In other words, reliance on drugs is now being replaced by more complex methods of treating the disease. One of the main points of this approach is replacing a sedentary lifestyle with an active one. Physical activity is very helpful in reducing hypertension. Increasing your fitness level has many benefits, including bringing your blood pressure closer to normal. Of course, the introduction of an exercise regimen should take place under medical supervision, especially if the patient has led a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise also reduces excess weight, which is another factor that raises blood pressure above normal levels. There is a strong correlation between obesity and hypertension, which can often be controlled by obesity care. Stress is a big factor in most people's lives these days. And stress can be a major contributor to hypertension. Current management of hypertension therefore includes informing patients about factors that contribute to stress levels. They also learn to better manage these stressors. This includes better coping with stressful situations as well as managing patients' internal reactions to stress. This can include, among others, yoga, meditation and relaxation exercises. Many stressors cannot be eliminated, but they can be successfully reduced. Both work and home stress need to be managed to help control high blood pressure. Of course, a healthy diet is essential for hypertensive patients. They are advised to avoid excessive intake of dairy products and salt. Blood pressure is much easier to control when the diet is well managed. Alcohol consumption should be limited or completely eliminated. There is now some evidence that alcohol in small amounts can actually be beneficial to the body. However, continued excessive consumption of alcohol places a heavy burden on many organs of the body, including the heart. Part of the problem stems from large amounts of alcohol, especially if beer is consumed. Foods like garlic and onions and some herbs have been found to help lower blood pressure. Herbs that contain an amino acid called L-arginine are said to be useful for this purpose. The use of an alternative medicine should only be done under adequate supervision. There are also newer medications to control high blood pressure, including calcium channel blockers. Some of these drugs effectively counteract the side effects caused by the drugs. High blood pressure treatment has evolved into a comprehensive approach that relies on more than just medication to address the Although 73 percent of women know how to prevent heart disease, many are unaware of how to treat it once a diagnosis has been made. In a survey of 1,979 women over age 35, only 55 percent said they understand how to treat heart disease. Respondents often incorrectly named prevention techniques such as exercise and healthy eating as treatment options, and less than 10 percent named actual treatments such as angioplasty and stent placement. Hispanics and African-Americans, both considered high-risk groups for heart disease, were twice as likely as Caucasian women to say they did not know any treatments at all. The survey was conducted by the “Healthy From the Heart” campaign sponsored by the National Women’s Health Resource Center and Cordis Corp. The campaign encourages women to learn about treatment options for coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease, so they can make better decisions if diagnosed.