In the warmth of spring, the blood pressure of many hypertensive patients has dropped compared with winter, and the symptoms of discomfort have been reduced. So they began to take irregular medications, reduce medications by themselves, reduce blood pressure monitoring, etc., stepping into the “pit” of spring blood pressure treatment.
Just in the spring, the temperature difference between morning and evening is very large, and the cold easily stimulates vasoconstriction, causing the patient’s blood pressure to rise and fluctuate. For patients with hypertension combined with coronary heart disease or cerebrovascular disease, vasoconstriction can reduce the blood supply to the heart and brain, increasing the risk of angina, myocardial infarction, and stroke. The systolic blood pressure of elderly hypertensive patients is best to be less than 150 mm Hg, if it can be tolerated, it can be reduced to below 140 mm Hg, but for the elderly, patients with severe cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases or vascular stenosis, the systolic blood pressure should not be less than 130 mm Mercury column.
A healthy lifestyle is the cornerstone of non-drug antihypertensive treatment, which mainly includes five aspects.
keep warm. In early spring, after the heating is stopped, if you feel that the indoor temperature is low, you can turn on the air-conditioning, electric heating and other thermal equipment; when opening windows for ventilation and going out, remember to add clothes; in the morning and when the wind is cooling down, you should reduce going out.
Eat a reasonable diet. Limit total calories, especially the intake of fats. Appropriately increase the dietary foods rich in protein, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, soy products, whole grains, etc. In addition, limiting salt is very important for patients with high blood pressure, to reduce sodium-containing condiments or food intake, such as soy sauce, fermented bean curd, pickles, etc. Patients with normal renal function can use low sodium and high potassium salts instead.
Adjust sleep. The incidence of insomnia in the elderly is relatively high, which can cause blood pressure fluctuations. If you are afraid of the side effects of sleep-promoting drugs, you may wish to eat some calming and tranquilizing foods, exercise moderately, avoid excessive thinking before going to bed, and reduce mood swings. If it does not improve, it is recommended to use sleeping pills under the guidance of a doctor to ensure about 6 hours of sleep per day.
Maintain a normal weight. Excessive eating, high calories, and insufficient exercise can cause overweight or obesity, which is one of the reasons for the increase in patients with hypertension in my country. A weight loss of 10 kg can reduce systolic blood pressure by 5-20 mmHg. It is recommended that obese patients lose 0.5-1 kg per week and lose 5%-10% of their body weight within 6 months to a year. As the muscle content of the elderly decreases, it is best to choose appropriate exercise methods, such as qigong and walking.
Quit smoking and limit alcohol. The influence of alcohol and tobacco on blood pressure cannot be ignored. For patients who are addicted to smoking, try to divert attention or use drugs, acupuncture and other treatments to quit smoking. People with a history of drinking a lot of alcohol should strictly control their alcohol intake. Men should not drink more than 25 grams of alcohol per day. Basically, wine should be less than 100～200ml (equivalent to 2～3 taels), or beer <250～ 500ml (about a bottle), or liquor <25-50g (0.5-1 tael), women should drink less alcohol than men. In addition, rational drug use and regular blood pressure monitoring are critical. Patients with long-term stable control of blood pressure are advised to continue taking the medication regularly. If blood pressure fluctuates, you should pay attention to whether there are temperature changes, emotional stimulation, fatigue, other diseases or medication, forgetting to take antihypertensive drugs, etc. If the blood pressure is normal after adjusting the above factors, you can continue to take regular medication for observation; if the blood pressure continues or rises significantly, and is accompanied by other serious discomforts, such as severe headache, vomiting, limb inability, crooked mouth and eyes, chest pain, etc., it is recommended to seek medical attention as soon as possible , Adjust the medication under the guidance of a doctor. Nowadays, many elderly patients have three problems: one is that they "have a long-term illness and become a doctor" and often adjust their medications by themselves. However, different antihypertensive drugs have different mechanisms and have certain side effects, which must be selected under the guidance of a doctor. Otherwise, it is easy to cause blood pressure fluctuations and induce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The second is not to take medicine, to stop the medicine by oneself, or to miss the medicine. Once diagnosed with high blood pressure, you need to take the medicine for life. Once the drug is stopped, the systolic blood pressure will rise by 7.8 mm Hg, and the diastolic blood pressure will rise by 2.5 mm Hg. If the elderly are afraid of missing a dose, they can ask their family members or use mobile phone software or electronic pill box to remind them. Third, it is impossible to do self-test blood pressure at home. Blood pressure in spring requires daily monitoring. For patients with high blood pressure and unstable blood pressure, measure them once a day, 3 times each morning and evening, with an interval of 1 minute, for 7 consecutive days. Take the average blood pressure of the next 6 days as a reference for the treatment plan. ; Patients with stable and up-to-standard blood pressure self-test 1 day a week, once in the morning and once in the evening. If necessary, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring can be carried out under the guidance of a doctor, and treatment methods such as medication can be adjusted to better control blood pressure.
