HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1942, Page 4

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

WATCH YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE. (By the Health Department.) A thousand people die every day of blood-pressure in America; in New Zealand blood pressure and allied diseases rank first among the causes of death. It is one of the most common conditions encountered in the consulting room, yet do'etors don’t know how to explain it. * From readings taken all over the world, there is agreement within narrow limits as to what the normal blood pressure in a normally healthy person should be. It is desirable that you should know how far your own blood pressure corresponds with the normal. Your doctor, with his little sphygomanometer, will be able to tell you without any delay. Should there be a tendency to a higher level than is proper, the increased pressure can be reduced in the initial stages. Later on it cannot, because of hardening or structural changes in the artery walls. If this narrowing is not stopped, the complications are frequently fatal. Treatment endeavours to reduce the strain on the arteries by proper diet or sedative drugs. Diet doesn’t mean cutting out meat, but the food should be plain'. Overweight is bad, because this means an increased load on the heart. A reducing diet is necessary here. Alcohol, tea, coffee and tobacco must all be used in moderation. As for drugs, leave that end of it to your doctor. He knows what are good for you and what are not. He will probably try some sedative or palliative mixture, and if these fail he will use some modern drug capable of actually reducing a high blood pressure. If you suspect high blood pressure, don’t waste a minute. Get the truth from your doctor. Early discovery means possibility of successful control, the removal of an ever-present threat to your life and a continuation of comfortable living.