Misunderstanding 1: There is no way to prevent high blood pressure
Many people feel that if their family members or close relatives have high blood pressure, they will also get high blood pressure. Indeed, high blood pressure has a genetic predisposition. If your parents or close relatives have had high blood pressure, you are more likely to have high blood pressure than others. But just because the probability of illness is high, it does not mean that you will have high blood pressure.
Although a healthy lifestyle does not guarantee that you will stay 100% away from high blood pressure, it can reduce your risk of high blood pressure. Good eating habits, regular physical activity, and quitting smoking and alcohol can all help prevent hypertension.
Misunderstanding 2: Hypertension is the symptom
Many people have no symptoms in the early stage of hypertension. The awareness rate of hypertensive patients in my country (that is, hypertensive patients know that they have hypertension) is only about 50%. Hypertension can gradually destroy the body’s arteries, heart and other organs without any warning. Once the obvious symptoms appear, it is already a life-threatening emergency such as myocardial infarction and stroke.
Misunderstanding 3: No need to worry about hypertension without symptoms
If hypertension is not controlled or poorly controlled, it will damage the large and small blood vessels throughout the body, leading to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, abnormal renal function and other problems. If you wait for various symptoms to control your blood pressure, you will miss the best time.
Misunderstanding 4: Low-salt diet is about adding less salt to cooking
Less salt in cooking is just one aspect of a low-salt diet. In addition to this, we should also pay attention to other aspects. Eat less other high-salt condiments, such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, etc.; eat less pickled foods.
Myth 5: Wine is good for the heart, drink as much as you want
In fact, there is still controversy in academia as to whether wine is good for the heart, but the risks of excessive drinking are certain. Therefore, people with high blood pressure should stop drinking.
Myth 6: It’s enough for the doctor to measure my blood pressure
Under normal conditions, a person’s blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day, and blood pressure fluctuations in hypertensive patients are more obvious. In the hospital, the doctor only measures the blood pressure for a while. Monitoring and recording at home can better reflect the changes in blood pressure, and showing the data to the doctor during treatment can provide the doctor with more accurate information.
Especially for hypertensive patients who have just started treatment, recording their daily blood pressure status can help doctors judge whether the current treatment plan is appropriate. But you need to pay attention to the accuracy of the sphygmomanometer and blood pressure measurement.
Misunderstanding 7: The drug can be stopped if the blood pressure is normal
Essential hypertension cannot be cured, and most hypertensive patients need to take medicine for life. Normal blood pressure is the result of drug control, not that high blood pressure has been cured. Once the drug is stopped, blood pressure is likely to rebound. Therefore, even if the blood pressure has stabilized for a long time, do not stop the medication by yourself. You can consult a doctor first and reduce the dosage under the doctor’s guidance. At the same time strictly monitor blood pressure to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
