Is High Blood Pressure a Stress Related Disease, and is it Here to Stay?

Are you "stressed out"? Are you suffering from high blood pressure? If you have both these symptoms together, they could be related.

High blood pressure is on the rise in America, the UK, and other locations around the globe, but there seems to be more emphasis on diet as the culprit than other equally important contributing factors.

We are being told to watch our salt intake; eat less saturated fats; check for hydrogenated oils; and the list goes on and on. Focussing too much on what we eat is causing us to get "stressed out" on top of all the other daily troubles that plague us, is it not? What do you think? Can excess stress cause high blood pressure? Can it really have that much effect on our health?

This concept isn’t new. We have been hearing about it for as long as I can remember. Take for instance, in 1958, two-thirds of the deer population died on James Island in Chesapeake Bay over a two year period.

In the Doomsday Book, British ecologist Gordon Taylor said that the adrenal glands of the deer were much enlarged, and the cell structure confirmed the idea that their deaths were stress related. He further explained that the adrenal glands become enlarged in response to continued stressful conditions, and predicted a similar situation for humans as they become more pressurised from overpopulated conditions, and isn’t it just so?

Current research reflects similar findings that not only does adrenalin and corticosterone increase with repeated stress, causing high blood pressure and enlarged adrenalin glands, but can also lead to heart disease, stroke and other diseases. Patients who have suffered heart attacks have been recorded as having worked more hours, and experienced more home and financial stress.

Not only can a heart condition develop, other diseases sometimes can be traced back to stress, as Psychiatrist, Dr. Eberhard H. Uhlenhuth, at the university of Chicago revealed in a health forum lecture. He made it clear that growing evidence indicated stress as a major player in the cause of most of man’s illnesses, from the common cold to heart attacks. He said “While there are other factors involved in causing illness, it is quite clear that stress plays a triggering role”.

We need to “take to heart” the evidence presented.

Does the future hold out for us a better, stress free world? Or are we doomed to ever failing, over crowded, under funded, health care systems? The historical record breeds in us a lack of confidence that things could really change. We seem to be loosing that burning zeal to keep trying, and present day statistics only put the dampeners on that already smouldering wick.

Adding to that, we have prophetic evidence in the most ancient of books, the Holy Bible. Did not Divine providence tell us that we would experience "critical times, hard to deal with”? (2 Timothy 3:1) Until Divine intervention obliterates all problems causing stress, it would be wise at present to take a measure of control over our own lives.

Finding areas where we can make some significant changes will effectively bring our stress levels and our blood pressure down.

Here is a list of some possible lifestyle changes to alleviate stress.

Controlling our anger will significantly lower stress levels.

Learning breathing techniques will calm us.

Setting priorities – such as less overtime, more leisure time.

Cutting back on unnecessary spending will reduce bills and worry.

Participate in varied sports and exercise with family and friends.

Consciously, slow down speech, and actions.

Laughing more is a good tonic for high blood pressure.

Perform acts of kindness.

Enjoy your food but eat in moderation, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Add to your diet, a balanced source of daily essential vitamins and minerals and a powerful blend of anti-oxidants.

I often like to quote the late Dr. Alsaker as a last word of wisdom from his health journal “Maintaining Health”. He says,

Confirmed worriers will worry about the weather, the past, the present, the future, about work and about play, about food, clothing and drink, about those who are present and those who are absent. Nothing escapes them and they bring sadness and woe in their wake.

Worry is slow suicide. It is a very futile employment, for it never does any good, and it reacts evilly upon the one who indulges in it, and those with whom he associates. It is a waist of time and energy. The energy thus used could be directed into useful channels.

Let those who are afflicted with this bad and annoying habit get into good physical condition. Then many of the worries will take wing. If they persist, it would be well to face the matter frankly and honestly, setting down the advantages of worrying on one side and the disadvantages on the other. Then take into consideration that not one thing in a thousand worried about happens, and if something disagreeable does occur, worrying cannot prevent it. Besides a disagreeable happening now and then will not cause half of the discomfort and trouble that a disturbed mind does.”

Stress! Would you say it has a bearing on blood pressure? I certainly think so, and as long as stressful conditions are prevalent, high blood pressure will be on the rise. Fortunately for those who listen, controlling it should not be a problem. We do have a bright future ahead, but yours depends on what you’re willing to do to make the changes!

(The excerpt is taken from his book Maintaining Health by R. L. Alsaker. This is a re-written work placed within the Public Domain.)

Copyright © 2007 Jamesina Goulbourne