Lower Your Risk

Funny how things just kinda happen. If you have been following this blog, you know that I have been working through some challenges with tinnitus over the past couple of weeks. Definitely not fun. The tinnitus seems to be at a manageable level now. I think. I can sleep and for most of the time it is not active in my conscious mind. When it does get in the conscious mind, it can do a pretty good job messing up my quality of life.

I will overcome it. Even if the ringing does not go away. I will learn to manage it.

When the doctor checked me out last week, he noticed that my blood pressure was running pretty high. About 150/92. He said that it was probably high due to the anxiety over the tinnitus. He asked me to check on it in a week or so.

I checked. Systolic was 143, Diastolic was 82. Resting heart rate was 64. And what does that mean? Stage 1 hypertension. Not good. Wake up call. Time for lifestyle changes.

The American Heart Association has a great site on high blood pressure. You can find it here. If you are like me, getting a bit older, it is a really good idea to make sure that you are keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range below 120/80. High blood pressure is a silent killer. And too many adults have little or no idea where they stand. I did not until last week.

I have to get to a lower BMI, maintain a daily program of aerobic exercise, improve my nutrition and get my sodium levels below 2,300 mg per day. Health Canada would like to see the sodium level down to about 1,500 mg.

My daughter will know this to be true. I am a big fan of salt. And believe me, I get it now. I have dropped the table salt. I have been keeping a detailed calorie and exercise log over the past two weeks. And it is very tough to get the sodium under 3,000 mg. But, I suspect I was in the range of 6,000 or more before I started tracking.

A friend of mine died unexpectedly from a massive heart attack last week. It made me think about life generally.

Hypertension is making me think even more.