Latest Heart New Center

If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. No more than one serving per day for women (e.g. 12 oz. beer or 5 oz. wine), and no more than two servings per day for most men (e.g. 24 oz. beer or 10 oz wine).

If you are prescribed high blood pressure medication, take it exactly as prescribed so it works properly. Don’t forget to talk with your health care provider about other medications - both over-the-counter and prescription - that you are taking to make sure they do not interfere with the blood pressure medication. Ask questions about what types of over-the-counter medications you can take before you take them. Bring all of your medication, even those you buy over the counter, to your visit with your health care provider.

If you are pregnant, get regular prenatal checkups so your health care provider can find and control a possible high blood pressure problem.

If you are taking birth control pills, estrogen, or hormone therapy (HT), get regular blood pressure checks from your health care provider to find and control a blood pressure problem.

Talk with your health care provider if you need help with these steps or have any questions or concerns.

Can High Blood Pressure Be Prevented?

If you have high blood pressure, you can lower it and control it with proper treatment. If you don’t have high blood pressure now, you can take steps to prevent it from developing. You can help to control and prevent high blood pressure by taking the following steps:

**Control your weight, or lose weight if you are overweight. Losing even ten pounds will help.

**Exercise regularly - 30 minutes a day for most days of the week is best.

**Limit your daily intake of sodium to less than 2,400 mg (about 1 teaspoon of salt). Sodium is found in many packaged foods, carbonated beverages, baking soda, and some antacids. Read product labels so you know what you are eating. If you would like to try a salt substitute, talk with your health care provider first, because they are not safe for everyone.

**Have a diet that includes more fruits and vegetables, and low fat or nonfat dairy products, and limited amounts of saturated fat and total fat.

**Eat foods that are rich in potassium since potassium seems to prevent high blood pressure. Aim to have more than 3,500 mg of potassium per day.

Because of these findings with hormones, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women who have gone through menopause should not be given HT to prevent heart disease and other chronic conditions. Hormones also are not recommended for women with heart disease or for women who have had a stroke. If you have gone through menopause, talk with your health care provider about whether hormones are right for you.

During pregnancy, a woman can develop high blood pressure, which goes away when the baby is born. This is called gestational hypertension. Women who have high blood pressure before getting pregnant are more likely to have certain problems, such as preeclampsia, or toxemia, which can threaten the lives of both the mother and the fetus. Talk to your health care provider if you have high blood pressure and are thinking of having a baby. Prenatal care will be especially important for you.

While not usual, women may see a rise in blood pressure due to taking estrogen or hormone therapy (HT). All women taking estrogen or HT need to have their blood pressure checked regularly. In the past, taking HT was thought to help protect women against heart disease. But recent findings from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), showed that taking HT poses more risks than benefits for a woman’s heart health. The study found that HT could increase a woman’s risk for heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung), as well as breast cancer.

Taking estrogen, either through birth control pills or through hormone therapy (HT), can affect a woman’s blood pressure. Women taking birth control pills can have a small and most often normal increase in their blood pressure reading. Talk to your health care provider about what you can do if your blood pressure goes up when taking the pill. Age (35 and older), length of use, and smoking are all thought to increase the risk for high blood pressure in women taking birth control pills.

When you take birth control pills, be sure to have your blood pressure checked regularly. If you are taking birth control pills and have high blood pressure, talk with your health care provider about another method of birth control.