Moms, are you at risk for high blood pressure? What are the signs of high blood pressure? (It’s a trick question, check the post for life saving answers.)
A sincere “thank you” to the American Heart Association for the opportunity to work with them on spreading awareness of high blood pressure. I received compensation to write this post. Every opinion stated here is 100% mine.
Are you at risk for high blood pressure?
When you have a child with a heart condition, you start to memorize numbers. Numbers are your measures of success and they become the way you gauge your child’s health. Did the right numbers increase or decrease since last appointment? Is the change a trend or a fluke?
Numbers become your security blanket, your safety net.
Then at some point you go to the doctor, because eventually mothers have to take care of themselves too. The nurse cheerfully exclaims “110 over 70, your blood pressure is perfect!” You carefully store this new set of numbers in your memory bank. These numbers now become “your normal”, the numbers by which all future blood pressures will be measured against.
After I became aware of “my numbers”, I encouraged my mom-friends to find out what their numbers were.
And then THIS happened:
I got together with a group of moms my age. You know the age: no longer a spring chicken and perhaps slowly approaching hot-flash territory. The age where things slowly start falling apart.
As we shared our recent medical experiences and possibly even over-sharing personal woes, I learned that one of my mom-friends presented with blood pressure numbers inching into the “dangerous zones”.
Are you at risk for high blood pressure? Find out with this interactive chart.
Having been a “heart mom” for over ten years, I have a good understanding of the relationship between a normal blood pressure and a healthy heart. Every morning for over approximately 3,650 mornings, I have handed our son his blood-pressure-lowering heart medication. He takes the pill followed by a sweet “thank you, mom” and then we go about our morning routine. His medication is simply part of “our normal”.
My friend, let’s call her Susan, had her annual physical exam and the doctor warned her that if she didn’t make certain lifestyle changes, she would need blood pressure medication.
Susan is your average, completely normal, run-of-the-mill mom. She looks and acts like a million other moms you know. She could be you or me. Her close-to-hypertension numbers came as a complete shock to her. She kept repeating to me “but I feel fine. I feel completely normal.”
However, this is not surprising. If you go to the American Heart Association’s website and look up “symptoms of high blood pressure”, you will quickly learn that it’s called “the silent killer” for a reason. There are no tell-tale symptoms to warn you of an elevated blood pressure.
There are, however a long list of risk factors that may contribute to your high blood pressure and many of them affect women.
Are you at risk for high blood pressure? Find out with this interactive chart.
Risk factors for high blood pressure
Risk factors you can’t do anything about:
- Family history: you have an increased chance to have high blood pressure if one of your close relatives have it.
- Age: high blood pressure is just another thing that may happen as we age.
- Gender: until age 65, men are more likely to get high blood pressure, there after the women take the lead.
- Race: African-Americans have a tendency to develop high blood pressure earlier and have more severe cases than any other ethnicity in the US.
- Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
Risk Factors you may be able to improve:
- Lack of physical activity: even though parents feel they never sit down and are always chasing kids, it’s important to add a brisk walk, yoga or some other exercise routine to your daily routine. It takes just half an hour, 5 days a week to get the activity you need. I recently dusted off my old FitBit and challenged a few friends to compare our steps daily. It’s a fun way to hold each other accountable and 10,000 steps a day is all it takes to make a difference.
- Unhealthy diet choice, especially high in sodium: How many moms do you know that skip a well-balanced lunch in lieu of eating their child’s left-over food and a handful of salty goldfish crackers? It’s time to prioritize your own diet as much as your child’s.
- Being overweight or obese: (raising my hand here) While I am not obese, I am certainly a lot heavier than before I had kids. The weight I carry around makes me feel unhealthy and personally, it’s a priority of mine to lose weight as a preventative measure against increasing blood pressure numbers. It only takes a weight loss of 5 to 10 lbs. to potentially lower your blood pressure. Ask a mom-friend to join in your mission to lose weight.
- Alcohol consumption above “moderate” levels: drinking a lot of alcohol or frequent alcohol consumption is unhealthy for a wide variety of reasons. It’s important to note WHAT the American Heart Associations deems “moderate” drink sizes. It may just surprise you.
- Sleep apnea: if your partner complains about your snoring, seeing a sleep specialist may improve both your health and your relationship!
- High cholesterol: Make sure to get an annual physical and have your doctor keep a close eye on your cholesterol numbers. This is just another set of numbers we need to be aware of as we age.
- Smoking and tobacco use: this goes for second hand smoke too, so encourage your loved ones to quit smoking, for their health and yours.
- Stress: stress alone can increase your blood pressure, but may also lead to poor lifestyle choices, like the ones listed above. This is one of the (many) reasons why I write so much about hygge (the Danish word for “coziness and contentment), as I firmly believe a more mindful lifestyle helps to reduce stress.
So moms, when you look at the list of risk factors for high blood pressure, it’s clear that we MUST consciously make choices and decisions that point towards a healthier lifestyle in order to stay ahead of the risk factors we can’t control.
Don’t wait for “the first of the month” or “next week” to start making these changes. Start today. Every time you take a little brisk walk, leave a salty chip alone, prioritize “me time” and turn down a stressful PTA volunteer opportunity your body and your family thank you.
Susan and I made promises to each other that we will make healthier choices going forward. Hopefully the changes she makes will have such a positive impact on her blood pressure that she lowers it back into the healthy range.
High blood pressure facts, as provided by the American Heart Association:
- High blood pressure is a systolic reading of 130 or higher (this is the first number of your blood pressure reading), or a diastolic reading of 80 mm Hg or higher.
- Every 10-mm Hg rise in systolic blood pressure increases the chance of death by heart disease or stroke by 17%.
- Almost HALF of all U.S. adults have high blood pressure!
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure and other life-threatening conditions.
With these facts in mind – go get your blood pressure checked, so you know YOUR NUMBERS!
Again, thank you to the American Heart Association for allowing me to work with them to spread awareness of heart-related issues.
Don’t miss my previous collaboration with the American Heart Association, on a topic so near to my heart:
How to Make Online Support Groups Your Village
Changes in blood Pressure can help reveal underlying health issue. Track and share your BP values with your doctor.