Blood pressure is a common issue affecting more than a billion people globally. It’s especially prevalent in less wealthy countries.
In simple terms, blood pressure is about how hard your blood pushes against the walls of your arteries. Your arteries are like big pipes that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body.
When doctors measure blood pressure, they look at two numbers. The first number measures the pressure when your heart is actually pumping blood.
The second number measures the pressure when your heart takes a mini-break between beats.
If either of these numbers is consistently too high, you’re diagnosed with high blood pressure, which is a problem because it increases your risk of heart disease.
Why Researchers Were Curious
High blood pressure is known to lead to heart problems. However, there’s still a lot we don’t know.
For example, doctors aren’t certain how the second blood pressure number relates to heart risk. Also, they’re not sure how high blood sugar, another factor tied to heart disease, fits into this puzzle.
A team led by Dr. Kazuya Fujihara and Prof. Hirohito Sone in Japan wanted to dig deeper. They were particularly interested because new American guidelines suggest that any blood pressure higher than 130/80 is a problem.
But there wasn’t much research to show how slightly high blood pressure impacts your risk of heart disease or stroke, especially when you also have high blood sugar.
To understand this, the researchers looked at health records of over 800,000 people in Japan. They organized these records based on the individuals’ blood sugar levels and then analyzed their blood pressure information.
The Eye-Opening Findings
The results were revealing. First, the team found that higher blood pressure did indeed increase the chances of heart disease and strokes, regardless of your blood sugar level.
This was important for everyone but particularly relevant for people in Asia, who have different health patterns than folks in the West.
Asians generally experience fewer heart diseases but more strokes, and they also deal with unique types of diabetes.
Even more interesting was the discovery that having both high blood sugar and high blood pressure was worse than having just one of these problems.
In other words, the risks of heart disease and stroke shoot up more when both numbers are high.
Finally, the researchers suggested some easy lifestyle changes that can make a big difference.
For instance, they recommended reducing salt in your diet even if your blood pressure is only slightly higher than what’s considered normal.
Still, the researchers emphasized that more studies are needed, especially to provide doctors with better information for treating people who have both high blood sugar and high blood pressure.
So, if you’re concerned about heart health, keep an eye on your blood pressure and blood sugar. And remember, some simple lifestyle changes could go a long way in reducing your risks.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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