“This is TOTALLY unacceptable!!!” “I can’t believe you thought it OK in any shape or form to say what you just said!”
When enraged, totally frustrated or more than a teensy bit cross, have you ever felt your blood boiling, your heart thumping, your whole body shaking, and know your face has turned a delicate shade of puce?
It all happens in an instant and in that moment of acute stress, your blood pressure spikes, your heart rate rises, and you have a split second to determine your next move.
Whether you choose to gnash your teeth, spit venom, walk out slamming the door or click to end the call you are experiencing acute stress that has triggered a fight, flight or freeze reaction.
This is all perfectly normal (to a degree) and the short-term rise in blood pressure in certain circumstances is not a problem. However, living with too much stress with too many blood pressure spikes for prolonged periods puts your cardiovascular and nervous systems under strain.
The Silent Killer
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, affects 31% of the global adult population and is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, vascular dementia and memory loss.
Because you can’t tell what your blood pressure is, it’s imperative you get it checked by your primary health provider.
High blood pressure can also occur in children, so don’t assume it’s something only grown-ups get.
If hypertension runs in your family or there’s a family history of heart disease or stroke, you might be thinking there’s nothing you can do.
Wrong.
Genes may not be on your side, but it’s your daily choice of activities that can make a significant impact. This is especially important if you know you are at higher risk for heart or brain disease and/or recognise your stress levels are too high too often.
This is where lifestyle comes into play.
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- Following a heart and brain-healthy diet is as easy as including more fresh vegetables and fruit into your diet, reducing sugar and soda and aiming for a healthy body weight. Limiting your intake of ultra-processed and junk foods that are too high in fat, sugar and salt is also recommended.
- Regular physical activity is THE single most important thing any of us can do to protect ourselves from heart disease and brain disease. Better still undertaking that physical activity outdoors in a green or blue space makes it a win-win. Simply being outside in a natural environment i.e. not concrete has a calming effect on the body and brain helping to lower blood pressure and stress levels even after just a few minutes.
- Getting enough good quality uninterrupted sleep. Research from Monash has shown how short sleep combined with high blood pressure is bad news.
“In those with high blood pressure, shorter sleep duration was associated with poorer executive functioning and markers of brain injury and accelerated brain ageing on MRI. These associations were not observed in people with normal blood pressure.”
Sleep is essential for health. Period. So, don’t deny yourself the gift of sleep to restore, refresh and reset. - Ease your stress by taking sufficient time off, reschedule your timetable if possible and seek out the good. Adopting a positive mindset builds resilience and nurtures more positive emotions and happiness. That’s good for your heart and brain too!
- Connect with those who make you feel good. Positive interactions promote play, laughter and recalibration of what’s really happening. A good belly laugh is a total body workout and a great way to alleviate stress.
- Avoid those behaviours that feel good in the short term but ultimately are counterproductive and can make your stress (and blood pressure) worse. That glass of wine to help you relax, that extra cigarette or three, the 1-litre tub of your favourite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream or family block of fruit and nut chocolate are best consumed in moderation and as an occasional treat rather than as a means to make yourself feel better or reward for getting through a horrible day at work.
Looking after your blood pressure.
Fortunately, there are a number of options to help keep your blood pressure in the healthy range. Maintaining good heart and brain health can be achieved by:
1. Keeping your stress in the tolerable zone.
Easy to say, not always so easy to achieve but there are things to help.
One of my clients Helen is a busy and frequently stressed business owner. She has run a successful business over a number of years but now finds it harder to deal with all the daily challenges that were wearing her down. She rarely if ever took time off and freely admitted that her life revolved around her work.
Her blood pressure was creeping up, she was having trouble sleeping. She had been through menopause and had put on 15kgs over a couple of years. She admitted to feeling stressed and quite anxious. She disliked exercise (she didn’t see the point) and couldn’t describe one activity outside work that made her happy.
What worried her the most was the fact her mum had died in her early fifties from a stroke and Helen was petrified she might go the same way.
2. Controlling the controllable and ditching the rest.
With coaching, Helen was able to review her work schedule, get better at saying ‘no’ and to delegate more.
She was encouraged to find a physical activity, anything, though preferably outdoors, that she could engage with regularly. She opted for an early morning 20-minute walk before work starting twice a week.
Her sleep pattern was terrible, so she was encouraged to make her routine more consistent regarding bedtime and getting up time, to cut out alcohol in the evenings (which she admitted had become a bit of a crutch to help her unwind) during the work week and committing to not work beyond 8 pm.
She wasn’t keen on the idea of meditation but was open to learning to use breathing exercises as a way to calm her mind and relax.
The last goal was for her to find a non-work activity she could commit to that was social and fun. That turned out to be taking up the piano again after a break of many years.
3. Medication to stay safe.
If a person’s blood pressure remains higher than desired after initiating healthy lifestyle changes, then there are a whole range of oral anti-hypertensives available that are well-tolerated and highly effective.
The longer you can keep your blood pressure in the healthy range, the lower the potential risk of developing dementia.
High blood pressure is recognised as the predominant risk factor for heart disease including heart failure, atrial fibrillation and heart valve disease as well as accelerating the impact of arteriosclerosis. Keeping your blood pressure in the healthy range protects you against a number of cardiovascular issues as well as chronic kidney disease.
If you’re still not convinced that managing your blood pressure is a must, the SPRINT trial demonstrated that for those at greatest potential risk of dementia or memory loss, intensive treatment to get the systolic (that’s the top reading) level down to 120 gave the greatest benefit.
If looking after my blood pressure will help me avoid heart disease, stroke or dementia, I’ll be very happy with that.
Are you being proactive to keep your blood pressure in the healthy range?
Thanks Jenny. I have hypertension, not surprising really when I have stage 4 breast cancer and Andy my husband has just finished treatment for on Hodgekinson lymphoma which appeared in his brain. Dealing with his treatment along side my continual palliative care treatment has been stressful. Not helped by the fact that all exercise is forbidden to me apart from walking.
I am excellent in all aspects of the rest of my life, weight, diet, mental health, just show what can happen to a person
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for sharing your story. What you and your husband have been going through is indeed a deeply challenging and stressful thing.
I’m surprised you are only allowed walking as any form of exercise, as exercise oncologists (yes there are such specialists) would be seeking to find something you can do to keep moving.
It’s good to hear that other aspects of your life are going well which all contribute to our resilience and wellbeing.
I agree, none of us know what’s in store for us in term of our health.