Other road users didn’t know that he had breathed his last; they just kept hooting at him to move on. When he still refused to move, someone got down from his car to see what was going on. Everyone was shocked to realise that the young man — an employee of a bank — had died. A post-mortem revealed that he died of high blood pressure.
Physicians say the actual cause of high blood pressure — also known as hypertension —is unknown. However, they say several factors predispose someone to having it, though many of them are totally preventable.
Clinical Biochemist and Products Manager (Diagnostics), New Heights Pharma, Mr. Olayinka Ebenezer, explains that when the underlying cause of hypertension cannot be determined, it is medically referred to as “essential hypertension.”
He, however, says essential hypertension has been linked to certain risk factors, such as family history, gender and advanced age.
He warns that someone who comes from a family where they have many hypertensive people is likely to become hypertensive sometime in life.
Physicians also warn that essential hypertension is greatly influenced by diet and lifestyle. “The link between salt and high blood pressure is especially compelling, as those who eat more salt than the recommended daily allowance are certainly likely to experience hypertension than those who don’t,” Nutrition Expert at the Mart-Life Detox Clinic, Lagos, Mrs. Idowu Ashiru, warns.
Other things that can cause essential hypertension include smoking, being overweight or obese, lack of physical activity, insufficient intake of potassium, calcium, and magnesium, too much alcohol consumption (more than one to two drinks per day), stress, diabetes, pregnancy, birth control pills containing oestrogen, being over 35 years old, too much fatty foods, sleeplessness, genetics, chronic kidney disease and adrenal/thyroid disorders.
Why hypertension is bad
Many people know that high blood pressure is bad, but they don’t know how bad it can be before it leads to heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, and, more often than not, death. A cardiologist, Dr. Phillip Tiwalade, warns that hypertension damages blood vessels and impairs their ability to work properly.
He notes that most of the time, there are no symptoms. He says, “For most patients, high blood pressure is found when they visit hospital or have it checked elsewhere. Because there are no symptoms, people can develop heart disease and kidney problems without knowing they have high blood pressure.”
The doctor stresses that if you have a severe headache, nausea or vomiting, bad headache, confusion, changes in your vision, or nosebleeds, you may have a severe and dangerous form of high blood pressure called malignant hypertension. “See your doctor without delay,” Tiwalade counsels.
Worse still, researchers at Johns Hopkins University, USA, say men and women with hypertension are twice as likely to experience sexual problems as individuals without high blood pressure.
The reason: “Healthy blood vessels are essential to sexual function, but high blood pressure damages blood vessels and impairs their ability to work properly. Hypertension leads to narrowing of the arteries because of plaque build-up.
“A link between high blood pressure and sexual problems is proved in men. Over time, high blood pressure damages the lining of blood vessels and causes arteries to harden and narrow (atherosclerosis), limiting blood flow. This means less blood is able to flow to the penis,” researchers say.
Physicians say for some men, the decreased blood flow makes it difficult to achieve and maintain erections — often referred to as erectile dysfunction.
High blood pressure can also interfere with ejaculation and reduce sexual desire, doctors proffer. They also say, sometimes, the medications used to treat high blood pressure have similar effects.
“In women, hypertension can reduce blood flow to the vagina. This may lead to a decrease in sexual desire or arousal, vaginal dryness, or difficulty achieving orgasm,” the researchers warn.
Those who have this problem are advised to see their doctor.
Sex therapy
For those who have normal blood pressure but are not involved in regular exercise routine, physicians prescribe “sex therapy” as a form of exercise that can keep hypertension at bay.
They are of the view that sex is a form of exercise which, when engaged in regularly, have so many benefits for the body.
Researchers from Scotland, who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology, submit that sex relieves stress and lowers blood pressure. The scientists insist that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of blood pressure) in people who live together and have sex often.
Sex also boosts immunity, scientists tell us. Researchers from the Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA, say having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections.
Physicians say to reduce your risk of hypertension, lose weight. This is a tall order for many people who may find it hard to hit the gym right away. Not to worry, though, you can also achieve your goal right on your bed or couch.
President of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists, Dr. Patti Britton, assures that by engaging in just 30 minutes of sex, you can burn 85 calories or more. “Sex is a great mode of exercise. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well,” she notes.
Again, a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, reveals that frequent sex improves cardiovascular health. What this translates into, the scientists note, is that while having sex, the heart rate goes from 70 beats per minute to 150 — a good training for the heart.
A 20-year-long British study also shows that having sex thrice a week decreases the risk of heart attack by 50 per cent. “This is because, during sex, the breath is deeper, meaning a better oxygenation,” the researchers assure.
Researchers say the heart health benefits of sex don’t end there. They say having sex twice or more a week reduces the risk of fatal heart attack by half for men, compared with those who have sex less than once a month.
Finally, since hypertension is also associated with sleep apnea, physicians recommend getting more quality sleep of up to seven or eight hours a day. Sex plays a huge role here, too, we are told. Scientists say the oxytocin released during orgasm promotes sleep. In addition, getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure.
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