Health Bulletin will give you
information on health issue
relevant to you and your
family.
It contains
general information only.
It is not a substitute for
professional medical advice
or a medical exam. Please
seek our formal advice before
acting on any matter arising
from it.
On one day an employee checked his blood pressure
at the clinic, he was stunned because his blood
pressure reading was high i.e. 160/100, whereas in
fact the last time he checked was still 130/90.
Other example, an employee with hypertension who
checks his blood pressure very infrequently and
ignores physician’s recommendation in consuming
medicines encounters complication and one day he
experiences stroke.
Most of chronic illnesses are caused by one’s
lifestyle (life pattern and eating pattern). One of
them is Hypertension.
Hypertension has been nicknamed as “The Silent
Killer” as it can cause death to its victims without
advance warning or symptom. As a matter of fact,
hypertension
can potentially lead to various complications such as
stroke, heart attack, and terminal kidney failure.
Hypertension symptoms vary in individuals and
sometimes it is considered as an ordinary ailment,
that is why patients are late in recognizing the
symptoms i.e.: headache, rapidly beating heart,
difficulty in breathing after hard work or lifting
heavy load, easily getting tired, blurred vision,
bleeding nose, frequent urination particularly at
night, buzzing ears, whirling sensations (vertigo).
Even without clear signs that can be seen externally,
if you have high blood pressure, this illness will
quietly continue to gnaw the health. In order to
make sure, the best way is checking the blood
pressure. Thirty minutes before blood pressure
check, you should not drink coffee or smoke and
urinate before checking, because these can affect the
measurement result.
In parallel with the increase in age, one’s blood
pressure generally also rises. There are several factors
that collectively cause it to occur, for instance lack of
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of physical activities, excessive body weight, and
hormonal change disorder.
Hypertension can be diagnosed as an
independent illness, but it is more often found to
be related with other illnesses e.g. obesity,
arteriosclerosis, and diabetes. Based on the
causes, hypertension can be divided into two
groups i.e.:
• Primary or essential hypertension the
exact causes of around 90-95 percent of
hypertension cases are not known. Experts
suggest that stress is the main culprit,
followed by other many influencing factors,
and experts have also found the relation
between the history of the hypertension
patient’s family (genetic) and the risk to this
illness. Other factors that can be included in
the list of causes of this type of
hypertension are surrounding, intercellular
metabolism disorder, and factors that
increase – the risks, such as diabetes, alcohol
consumption, smoking, and blood disorder
(polycythemia).
• Secondary or renal hypertension, in the
remaining 5-10 percent of the cases, the
specific causes have been known, they are
hormonal disorder, heart disease, diabetes,
kidney failure, blood vessel disorder, or
related with pregnancy. A case that
infrequently occurs is adrenal gland tumor.
Kitchen salt will aggravate hypertension
condition, but not a cause factor.
July 2007
 July 2007

Why is modern lifestyle Ignoring hypertension means letting the heart

work harder and allowing quicker blood vessel wall
considered as the main damage. Hypertension increases heart disease
cause? twofold and increases the risk of stroke eight times
In the modern lifestyle that adores success, hard compared with people without hypertension.
work in a situation full with pressure, and
extended stress are the most common Prevention is more important than
occurrences. A little bit of pressure and challenge treatment. To prevent hypertension, we need to
are needed to maintain vigilance and increasing know the risk or cause factors i.e.:
our motivation. But excessive stress can trigger
the occurrence of various illnesses, such as ¾ Male > 45 years old
headache, insomnia, gastric ulcer, hypertension, ¾ Hypertension family history
heart disease, and stroke. ¾ Diabetes
Incorrect eating pattern can also be the ¾ High cholesterol level
second culprit. Experts have found that the ¾ Overweight
modern foods as the main contributors for
¾ Stressful lifestyle
hypertension. Preserved foods, kitchen salt, and
¾ Smoking
seasonings in high quantity, for example
monosodium glutamate (MSG), can raise blood The important point to prevent hypertension
pressure because it contains natrium in excessive are :
quantity. Natrium together with kitchen salt
actually help the body in maintaining the body
Healthy lifestyle
fluid balance and managing blood pressure. But,
(control stress, routine physical exercises, stop
natrium in excessive quantity can retain fluid,
smoking)
and therefore it increases the blood volume.
Consequently the heart has to work harder to
pump the blood and blood pressure rises.
Excessive body weight is the third culprit.
Excessive body weight (overweight) will make a
person difficult to move freely. His heart has to
work harder to pump the blood in order to
move the excessive body load. Therefore obesity
becomes one of the factors that increase the risk
to hypertension and heart attack.

After knowing that you belong to the type

of persons that are exposed to hypertension risk,
you should try to control it before you do suffer
from this illness. But if you have already got it
and need intensive treatment, you must be
careful with the side effects, which are more
dangerous.
Healthy eating pattern (balanced nutritious
food consumption)
Have regular medical checkup for early
detection of illnesses, including blood pressure
checks.

This health information can hopefully be

useful for you and can make your life
healthier.

HSE / MED Health Bulletin Only for internal distribution