Four Words Help People with Diabetes Manage High Blood Pressure

As is known to all, hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia are collectively referred to as the "three highs", allowing people to suffer a lot. Many people with diabetes have high blood sugar. With high blood sugar, it is easier to get high blood pressure. Meanwhile, high blood pressure, in turn, can aggravate diabetes.

High blood pressure can easily lead to various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The occurrence of myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke and other diseases have something to do with failure to control blood pressure. If people spare no efforts to control blood glucose but neglect to control blood pressure, it does be a pity that it would cause cardiovascular disease. It's hard to notice the symptoms of hypertension. As such, there is a need for people with diabetes to measure blood pressure regularly.

Due to the fact that high blood pressure can damage blood vessels, diabetic complications, covering diabetic nephropathy and diabetic retinopathy, are closely related to high blood glucose and high blood pressure. People with diabetic nephropathy should pay more attention to the situation. If they fail to control blood pressure in a reasonable range, it is more likely to develop into uremia.

So, how should people with diabetes deal with high blood pressure? Four words matter!

1. Prevention
Blood pressure should be controlled in 130/80 mmHg or less. It’s essential for people who have not yet developed high blood pressure to prevent them by taking the following measures:

• Control the intake of sodium salt

The daily intake of sodium salt does not exceed 6g, which is about the size of a beer bottle cap. If people feel tasteless, they can use vinegar or salt-free spices to season it.

In addition to restricting sodium salt, there is also a lot of salt in many seasonings, such as soy sauce, various pickles, tomato sauce, etc. Therefore, seasonings should be used rationally. At the same time, some foods, covering salted eggs, bacon, pickled fish, pickles, moldy tofu, etc., should be eaten less. Potato chips, instant noodles, sausages, biscuits and so on should be avoided as well.

• Eat vegetables more often

Vegetables are rich in potassium, which can resist increased blood pressure due to excessive sodium intake to a certain extent. It is generally recommended that people with diabetes eat half a catty of various vegetables every day.

• Quit smoking and limit alcohol

Smoking can cause vasoconstriction and destruction of vascular endothelium. It can also increase blood pressure, enhance the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetic complications. Therefore, whether it is to control diabetes or prevent high blood pressure, people should quit smoking.

Alcohol may induce hypoglycemia and increase energy intake. It can raise blood pressure, and the more people drink, the greater their chance of being caught in high blood pressure. If people succeed to blood sugar management, they can drink but need to limit the amount of alcohol:
Wine: Less than 100-150 ml (men)
Beer: Less than 400 ml (men)
Baijiu: Less than 50 ml (men)

• Exercise regularly

Regular exercise is not only beneficial for blood sugar control, but also good for lowering blood pressure. Recommended sports include: brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, radio gymnastics, etc. It is advised to exercise for 30 minutes a day for a total of 150 minutes per week.

2. Treatment
People whose blood pressure exceeds 120/80 mmHg, but does not reach 130/80 mmHg, they require to adjust their lifestyles according to the above method.

If their blood pressure is still more than 130/80 mmHg after adjusting the lifestyle, they should consider starting treatment with antihypertensive drugs. If the systolic blood pressure is more than 160 mmHg, antihypertensive drugs is a must. Against the backdrop of the fact that there are many types of antihypertensive drugs, people should follow doctors' guidelines and take medicine on time.

3. Control
Similar to blood sugar control, blood pressure control varies from person to person, and the specific control goal needs to be determined by the doctor.

Generally speaking, people with diabetes whose blood pressure needs to be controlled within 130/80 mmHg. The control goals should be more stringent for the young and need to be reduced to less than 120/70 mmHg.

If the age is more than 65, in order to ensure the blood supply to the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular vessels, the blood pressure target value can be appropriately relaxed to 150/90 mmHg.

4. Check
The symptoms of hypertension are not obvious, people with diabetes therefore should routinely measure blood pressure when visiting a doctor, or measure blood pressure at home or in the community. It can be diagnosed if tests of 3 times (not the same day) measures blood pressure id more than 130/80mmHg excluding other factors.

In conclusion, prevention, treatment, control and check should be kept in mind. Only by doing so can people with diabetes enjoy a better life and stay away from high blood pressure.