Blood Pressure Archive

When your heart muscle doesn't get enough blood, chest pain is possible. But you might not feel anything at all.

Small, wireless skin patches may offer a convenient way to diagnose—or rule out—arrhythmias.

An abnormal heart rhythm—when your heartbeat is too slow, too fast, or irregular—may be a fleeting, harmless event. But it might be a sign of a more serious heart condition. If you have frequent palpitations (which feel like your heart is pounding, racing, or fluttering) or unexplained fainting spells, your doctor may recommend a Holter monitor. This portable electrocardiogram (ECG) machine records your heart rhythm over a day or two.

Eczema, an itchy, scaly skin disease that usually starts early in life, may make people more prone to heart disease and stroke, according to a study in the Jan. 8, 2015, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Researchers relied on data from more than 61,000 adults who took part in the 2010 and 2012 National Health Interview surveys. They found that people with eczema smoke and drink more and are less likely to exercise than people without the disease. (Sweating aggravates eczema, making exercise a challenge.) Other factors that boost heart disease risk—such as severe obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol—were also more prevalent among people with eczema. So were sleep disturbances, which were linked to even higher odds of having those risk factors.

High blood pressure is one of the many health risks associated with not getting enough sleep, which is often caused by insomnia, or difficulty falling or staying asleep. Although often considered a nighttime problem, some people with insomnia may be in a state of "hyperarousal" that also makes it hard for them to nod off during the day. Now, new research suggests that people with chronic insomnia who also have trouble napping face a higher risk of high blood pressure.

The study, in the March 2015 issue of Hypertension, included more than 200 people with chronic insomnia (defined as insomnia that lasts more than six months) and almost 100 normal sleepers. All underwent daytime nap tests, which measures how quickly a person falls asleep in a quiet environment during the day. People with chronic insomnia who took longer than 14 minutes to fall asleep during the nap studies had three times the risk of high blood pressure compared with normal sleepers, the researchers found. Treatments such as medications and biofeedback to help dampen hyperarousal may be best for people with this type of insomnia, they suggest, although more research is needed.

You can't see your blood pressure or feel it, so you may wonder why this simple reading is so important. The answer is that when blood pressure is high, your heart is working overtime to pump blood through your body. This extra work can result in a weaker heart muscle and potential organ damage down the road. Your arteries also suffer when your blood pressure is high. The relentless pounding of the blood against the arterial walls causes them to become hard and narrow, potentially setting you up for stroke, kidney failure, and cardiovascular disease.

A healthy lifestyle — not smoking, losing excess weight, eating nutritious foods, and exercising regularly — is the cornerstone for preventing and treating hypertension.

Preventing stroke is the top priority if your heart is beating irregularly. A variety of options can control symptoms.

A flutter in the chest and a racing heartbeat could be just a passing cardiac blip, perhaps triggered by emotional stress or too much caffeine. But sometimes it's a sign of atrial fibrillation—the irregular quivering of the heart's upper chambers, or atria.

Q. I have a pacemaker and was told to never have an MRI scan. Is there any way around that?

A. In the past, people with pacemakers were told never to have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but in certain cases it may be safe.

Q. I had chest pains for a couple of days and thought I was having a heart attack. My doctor did an electrocardiogram and said I had pericarditis and that it was not serious. What exactly is pericarditis?

A. Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, a protective, double-layered sac surrounding the heart. It has many different possible causes, including a virus or other infection, certain illnesses, an injury to the chest, radiation therapy for cancer, or a reaction to medications. Complications from bypass surgery or the insertion of a pacemaker are other possible triggers. But most of the time, the cause remains elusive.

Q. I take several medicines to get my blood pressure under control, and they seem to do the job. However, I get dizzy at times. Is there anything I can do, other than stopping my medications?

A. Many people occasionally feel dizzy if they stand up too quickly, and the older you get, the more likely this will happen. When you're lying down or sitting, less blood pressure is needed to send sufficient blood to the brain. But as you stand, the pressure must rise to deliver adequate amounts. If that doesn't happen fast enough, your brain can't function as well as it should, and you feel dizzy. Moving from a lying or seated position to a standing position more slowly usually helps if this is the underlying reason.

With its focus on body, mind, and breath, yoga shows promise for improving heart health.