High Blood Pressure Explained

So, you’ve been told you you’ve got “the blood pressure.” Now you’re supposed to eat bland food, lose weight, and take this water pill. What’s all that about? 

What even is high blood pressure (hypertension)?

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Obviously a fire hose uses a lot more water, but the hose is made to withstand that extra water. So there’s not a problem, right? Now, say you took the all that water rushing through a fire hose and pushed it through a simple garden hose. Now we’re going to have problems! This is what high blood pressure is – pushing a lot of water through a relatively small hose. 

Why is it a problem?

First, all that extra water coming out of the garden hose is going a lot faster and more powerful than normal. That speed and power will do a lot of damage to the plants that you’re watering. Secondly, if we do this long enough the extra pressure and power of the water will also damage the actual garden hose from the inside out making it weak. You can repair small areas of the garden hose; however, eventually either that garden hose is going to be so hard and stiff from all the repairs it’s not going to work right, or it’s going to burst and water is going to go everywhere.

So now we’ve got some hurting plants, a busted garden hose, and water in places we didn’t want it. Welcome to the world of high blood pressure except the water is your blood, the garden hose is your arteries, and the plants are your organs (kidneys, liver, etc.). By now you can see that this isn’t just an isolated problem, but high blood pressure can lead to a lot of other problems. For example: 

How did this happen? 

There are a lot of things that can result in high blood pressure, and they’re not all bad or completely avoidable (genetics). It can be something good that happens quickly and for only a short period of time (exercise) or something bad that develops consistently over a long time. For our sake, we will focus on the most common and largest problem, your blood pressure being elevated over a long period of time.

Say over time you got more and more dirt or clay in the garden hose that began to get stuck and build up inside of the garden hose. That debris inside the hose clogs it up to an extent so that there is less space for the water to pass; however, the amount of water getting pushed through doesn’t change, only the space it has to flow through, increasing the pressure. This is what happens in your body. Over time your internal “garden hoses” get damaged, and after repeated repairs they begin to get dirty and lose their flexibility. This decreases both the space your blood has to move through as well as the ability of your hoses to flex and adjust for the increased load.

This is what increases the blood pressure and leads to all the problems discussed above. Now, everyone will have damage to their “hoses” (arteries) over time, but there are certain things we do that make it happen faster and to a more extreme extent. These are things such as eating lots of sugar, salt, and foods high in cholesterol; not exercising regularly; being overweight; being stressed all the time; smoking; and other generally unhealthy things. 

What can I do about it?

Well, one thing you cannot do (generally) is go get a new hose or simply flush all the debris out. Therefore, the best approach is to limit the damage to your arteries in the first place by having a healthy lifestyle. However, once you develop high blood pressure there are some treatments that can be paired with healthier lifestyle choices. Some of these include: 

• Taking medications that decrease the amount of water in the hose (water pill);
• Increasing the size of the hose (many different blood pressure medications);
• Decreasing the force of the water pump (beta blockers). 

However, there are physical limits to what these medications can do, so again your best bet is to actively avoid the damage in the first place. Take care of your garden hose!

Now you might be saying: “My pressure might be high, but it’s not bothering me, so what’s the deal with all these medications and lame food restrictions?” Well, I’ll just say termites don’t destroy your house in a day. Everything seems totally fine until one day your kitchen suddenly converts to an open floor plan with tons of natural lighting. The problems above are like ninjas, they’re sneaking in the background, I promise. In a moment’s notice they can be absolutely devastating to you and your family. Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.  

Lastly, some people will unfortunately be more likely to develop high blood pressure due to genetics; however, this does not mean developing high blood pressure is inevitable. Nor is it as common as most people think, which means this probably isn’t your situation (despite you thinking it is).  Regardless, healthy lifestyle choices still go a very long way in protecting your “hoses.” So don’t use genetics as an excuse but as a motivator to make good choices and live until you’re 150!

Learn more, stay humble.