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High blood pressure is too common in the UK. More than one in four people live with the disease, although many do not realize it because the symptoms are rarely perceptive. The excesses of modern life may be partly responsible for high blood pressure – overweight and regular consumption of alcohol in large quantities are important risk factors. One study suggests that an environmental factor could also explain high blood pressure.
In a study conducted from the heights of Mount Everest, Italian researchers found that a person's blood pressure increased steadily if it reached great heights. Significantly, they also found that a drug widely used to treat high blood pressure was ineffective once climbers had reached a certain altitude.
The results, published in the European Heart Journal, could have several consequences.
This could affect not only high altitude hikers, but also sea level people who suffer from sleep apnea, in which a blocked airway temporarily interrupts their breathing, as well as other some chronic diseases.
The researchers joined an expedition of 47 volunteers who traveled to Mount Everest base camp at an altitude of 5,400 meters, or approximately 17,700 feet. Volunteers wore blood pressure monitors who were on duty twenty-four hours a day when they went to base camp.
Participants were also randomized to receive either 80 milligrams (mg) of telmisartan, an antihypertensive blood pressure drug, or a placebo. Telmisartan is an angiotensin receptor antagonist (ARB) because it blocks the effects of a peptide called angiotensin II, which causes narrowing of blood vessels. The researchers also took blood samples.
The results could have a number of implications for people suffering from diseases or disorders that can lead to oxygen deprivation, said study director Gianfranco Parati, director of the Istituto's cardiac research laboratory. Auxologico Italiano of Milan.
"This increase in blood pressure is due to several factors, the most important being the effects of oxygen deprivation on the increasing activity of the sympathetic nervous system of the body." This leads the heart to work harder and harder. the peripheral blood vessels contracting, "he added.
This could help to better understand and help "the management of patients with chronic diseases, including chronic heart failure, in which breathing is interrupted periodically, the acute worsening of the disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obstructive sleep apnea and severe obesity. Together, these conditions affect more than 600 million people around the world, which makes our results extremely significant from a clinical point of view, "he said.
"Our results will also allow us to take the measures that are required to warn cardiovascular patients of the need to exercise caution when they are exposed to high altitudes for their hobbies or work," concluded Mr. Parati.
According to the NHS, the risk of high blood pressure is increased if you:
- Are over 65
- Are overweight
- Are of African or Caribbean descent
- Have a parent with high blood pressure
- Eat too much salt and do not eat enough fruits and vegetables
- Do not do enough exercise
- Drink too much alcohol or coffee (or other caffeine-based drinks)
- Smoke
- Do not sleep a lot or sleep
It is important to monitor your blood pressure reading, the body added. A blood pressure test can be done at various locations, including a general practice clinic and some pharmacies.
A test can also be done at home with the help of a blood pressure monitor. A relaxed environment can provide a more accurate reading, added the health website.
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