Hypertension or in other words elevated blood pressure (BP) is a common disease affecting majority of our elderly population in nowdays.
So why we need to control our blood pressure to a normal level?
With the available research data, now they have found out following benefits.
1. Reduces stroke incidence
With high blood pressure, you can have a blood clot obstructing blood supply to your brain. If not treated quickly, you will be paralysed for the rest of your life. In simple words, that is a stroke. Researchers have found out that it reduces risk by 35-40%.
2. Reduces myocardial infarction
In common terms, lowering blood pressure reduces getting heart attacks (myocardial infarction) by 20-25%. Your blood pressure has two readings
systolic (higher value) & diastolic. For example if your BP is 120/80 means your systolic BP is 120 mmHg & diastolic BP is 80 mmHg.
In hypertension this will be above 140/90. So if you can maintain reduction of 12mmHg systolic BP over 10 years, that will prevent 1 death for every 11 patients treated.
3. Reduces heart failure
Your heart is the machine that pumps blood to whole parts of your body.
Sometimes heart may not be able to function as before, or it fails to pump (Heart failure). If you can lower BP, your risk of having failed heart will reduce by 50%.