Controlling Your Blood Pressure Archive

Your recovery after a heart attack doesn't end when you leave the hospital. To protect your heart over the long term, follow these steps.

Having a heart attack is life-altering experience. More than likely, you'll spend the days and weeks after your discharge from the hospital flooded with new information on your heart health and medical care. You'll also be learning to cope with your identity as a heart attack survivor.

For overweight people with atrial fibrillation, shedding pounds can ease the racing heart, dizzy spells, and breathlessness that often occur with this condition, a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association reports. The most common heart rhythm disorder, atrial fibrillation causes the heart's upper chambers (atria) to beat fast and irregularly. Rates of atrial fibrillation are on the rise in the United States, and the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity may be partly to blame, say the authors.

The study included 150 people with atrial fibrillation symptoms who were overweight or obese. Half were randomly assigned to a control group that received general advice on weight loss, eating right, and exercise. The others followed a strict diet plus light exercise. All were also treated for factors that put them at risk for heart problems, such as high blood pressure and smoking.

Should you be taking it? If so, when, how much, and what kind?

Monitoring at home controls high blood pressure better than infrequent doctor visits.

Here's an easy way to help reduce hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure: start monitoring at home. It's easy, inexpensive, and scientifically proven. "Blood pressure has to be measured regularly at home, not just once in a while at a doctor's office; that's not enough to tell if medication is working or not," says Dr. Andrew Eisenhauer, a cardiologist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School.

Q. I'm a healthy 58-year-old man recently diagnosed with high blood pressure. My doctor prescribed metoprolol, and my blood pressure is now in the normal range. But I've started having trouble getting an erection. Could the medication be causing this problem, and if so, is there anything I can do about it?

A. Metoprolol belongs to a class of drugs known as beta blockers, which make the heart beat slower and with less force. In the past, doctors prescribed beta blockers as a first-choice treatment for high blood pressure.

Quitting smoking is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Learn how you can capitalize on these gains for years to come.

You did it! You gave up cigarettes. Just by quitting, you've made a huge stride in improving your health and extending your life. After all the hard work you've done, make sure you take all steps necessary to reap the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle for years to come.

High cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stiffening of the arteries are well-known contributors to cardiovascular disease. These same factors may also promote the development of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. In a study published in Neurology, researchers conducted brain scans on 91 elderly men and women. Although none of the participants showed signs of dementia, about half had significant amounts of amyloid deposits in their brains.

Study participants also underwent tests for cardiovascular health. One measured arterial stiffness, an indicator of the health of the body's vascular system. People with the stiffest arteries showed more amyloid plaque in the brain as well as a greater number of lesions in brain's "white matter," a marker of trouble in the small arteries.

Q. I was told I have high blood pressure. The top number ranges from 135 to 145. I don't want to take medications. What choices do I have?

A. From what you have described, it sounds like you may have mild high blood pressure, or hypertension. If the top number is consistently over 140 mm Hg, you may need to go on medications after first adopting healthy lifestyle changes. The likely natural history of people with high blood pressure is that it tends to increase further with age.

Q. I'd like to start monitoring my blood pressure at home, but I'm not sure when I'm supposed to do it. Is there one particular time of day that's best?

A. The best home blood pressure machines have a cuff around the upper arm, and they automatically inflate the cuff and measure the pressure. The cost of these small machines has dropped, they are easy to use, and they're accurate. To help your doctor determine if you have high blood pressure, I recommend making two measurements per day, one in the morning and one in the evening, for a week. I recommend that most people who have high blood pressure (like me) take their pressure at the end of the work day, or at a time of day when they feel most stressed (like I do). These machines are a great aid in helping you and your doctor control your blood pressure.?

Taking calcium-channel blockers long-term to control high blood pressure may increase the risk of breast cancer. Other types of blood pressure drugs don't seem to have the same effect.