High Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is a measure of the driving force in the arteries that propels the blood to the tissues and organs. Ideally, someone has a blood pressure that is high enough to drive blood to the organs, but not so high that it puts excessive load on the heart and blood vessels. Blood pressure can change throughout the day depending on activity.
• Systolic pressure– pressure of the blood during the heart contraction.
• Diastolic pressure–reflects the general state of tissue tension.
Mild hypertension may be alleviated by dietary and lifestyle changes. These include reducing salt intake, following the DASH or mediterranean diet, regular exercise, quitting smoking, reducing alcohol intake and reducing stress.
A herbalist will take a full case history to determine the primary factors contributing to high blood pressure for the patient and make a holistic and personalised formula. For example, if chronic high stress is the main reason, herbs to address stress will feature strongly in the formula.