Last Updated on April 13, 2017 by Marie Bautista
- Two out of 10 Filipino suffer from hypertension. Thirty percent of them are unaware that they have the condition, because almost half of hypertensive people don’t feel anything.
- If your blood pressure is 140/90, you may be hypertensive.
- Women with 31-inch waistlines are at risk for becoming hypertensive. For men, it’s 35 inches.
- Genes play a small part in determining whether a person is susceptible to the condition. It is more the interaction of genetic predisposition and lifestyle. If you have the genes but have a healthy lifestyle, you may not get it. But if you don’t have the genes and live unhealthily, you can get it.
- Even children should have their blood pressure checked, especially now that a growing number of adolescents have high blood pressure. If you don’t know what your BP is, have yourself checked, and have the test repeated at least once a year.
Information from the Philippine Heart Association
It is in the genes of my husband so we really try to have a healthy lifestyle to avoid hypertension.
I'm working on my waistline since my mom's family have a history of heart problems. It's difficult though.
I started getting or being hypertensive when I was fully loaded with a stress when our eldest son was in trouble. Every year I have to see our family physician for a check up. And I have to follow his medical advice religiously. Now my blood pressure is controlled. And I have to take always my med maintenance.
It is certainly important to get your blood pressure checked on a regular basis so that one cam be ensure that he/she is healthy.
That's why whenever my dad would hit 140 every time I check on him, we always remind him to eat less rice and avoid unhealthy food.
I don't know what my waistline is anymore. Health is really important, so we should have checks.
Thank you for this sis. With the current lifestyle that we have, it's no surprise that even children can suffer from hypertension. Kaya kelangan galaw galaw din, hehe.
I have a few friends my age who are hypertensive. They already have maintenance meds. It is scary. My mama was and I hope I do not inherit it from her genes.
Thanks for sharing this facts about hypertension. It really help a lot.
I do have a different opinion when it comes to the waistline thing. There are a lot of big boned women and men with wide waistline but have an active lifestyle & they are not hypertensive. There are also men and women who are slim yet hypertensive.
Exercise plays a big part in having a healthy lifestyle. It does not necessarily mean you have to go to the gym two or three times a week or join a fun run or even a marathon every month. Walking is still the cheapest and profitable exercise but it has to be be done at least 30 minutes to an hour everyday ( brisk walking). When most of our lives are spent sitting down, whether we work in the office or at home then we are at risk of hypertension.
Lack of exercise, an unhealthy diet and very few sleep are the main culprit for hypertension. They all come together. Once you start your journey to fitness, you will find time to exercise no matter what the cost. You will find no excuses not to do it at least to or three times a week.You will be conscious of what you will eat even if that would mean rare visits to fast food chains and eat all you can events. You will value a good night sleep no matter how rare it is if you work in the evenings. It will be challenging but its rewards is tenfold once you realize you seldom get sick, you rarely visit the doctor and has a good disposition because you feel strong &young. And because you have proven that it is possible to be healthy at a later age, you encourage others to the same.
you might as well be talking about me, Sarah hehe. When I tell people I walk/run/do treadmill every single day, they won't believe me. I plan to write a post about committing to anything you want to change or do for 30 days. I used to exercise once or twice a week and stop when I feel aches and pain, but 30 days ago, I committed to running just 3k. 3k lang everyday. Yun ang commitment. And I was able to do it, even with the strong typhoon one weekend when electric power was knocked out.(I ran up and down the stairs for 30 days). After doing the 30 days (I also posted on instagram since I really looked forward to tracking my progress), I am doing a new challenge 🙂
*ran up and down the stairs for 30 minutes that day
here as well. it's in the genes both my husband's and mine. also, there are now a lot of people i know, who are in the same age as mine, are experiencing this from time to time. signs of aging na daw. 😛
Whew, nakakatakot magka hypertension, I hope I won't have this problem in the future.