High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, happens when the force of blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels is too strong.
Over time, this can damage your heart and cause serious problems like heart disease or stroke.
Many things can cause high blood pressure, but new research shows that long-term inflammation in the body might also play a role. Learning about this connection can help people take better care of their health.
Inflammation is the body’s way of responding to injury or infection. When you get a cut or catch a cold, your body uses short-term inflammation to heal. But sometimes, inflammation lasts for a long time without a clear reason.
This is called chronic inflammation. It can happen because of long-term infections, being exposed to harmful substances, or having autoimmune diseases. Chronic inflammation is harmful and has been linked to diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart problems.
So how does inflammation affect blood pressure? When the blood vessels are inflamed, they become stiff and less flexible. This makes it harder for blood to flow, and blood pressure goes up. Inflammation can also change how your kidneys manage salt and water, which affects blood pressure too.
Scientists have found that people with high blood pressure often have higher levels of certain substances in their blood that show inflammation is happening.
These include proteins like C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. These markers may not only show that inflammation is present, but they might also cause damage to the blood vessels and kidneys, making high blood pressure worse.
Things that raise the risk of high blood pressure—such as being overweight, eating poorly, and not getting enough exercise—can also cause inflammation.
Fat cells, especially around the belly, release chemicals that increase inflammation. That means improving your lifestyle can help lower both inflammation and blood pressure.
What you eat matters a lot. Diets that include lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy proteins—like the Mediterranean diet—can reduce inflammation and help lower blood pressure. On the other hand, eating lots of sugary foods, salty snacks, and fatty meats can make inflammation and blood pressure worse.
To control high blood pressure, people should monitor it often, take medicine if needed, and make healthy changes in their life. If you reduce inflammation through diet, exercise, and other good habits, you may also reduce your blood pressure and improve your overall health.
Some helpful steps include keeping a healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating anti-inflammatory foods, staying away from smoking, limiting alcohol, and managing stress.
In conclusion, inflammation may play a bigger role in high blood pressure than we used to think. That’s why it’s important to look at the whole picture when treating high blood pressure. By living a healthy lifestyle, people can fight inflammation, lower their blood pressure, and protect their health.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about why checking blood pressure while lying down is very important and lowering top blood pressure number to less than 120 mm Hg effectively prevents heart disease.
For more about blood pressure, please read studies that turmeric and vitamin D may boost blood pressure control in type 2 diabetes and scientists find link between blood pressure drugs and bowel diseases.
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