Many people's high blood pressure is related to anxiety, tension and mental stress. How should it be treated?

A friend consulted Huazi about high blood pressure. Her diastolic blood pressure was only slightly high, but during the consultation, Huazi found that she was particularly nervous and her words were full of anxiety. She was worried about her high blood pressure and was afraid that she would get seriously ill.

Huazi told her that the reason for her high blood pressure was related to mental stress. If she could get rid of the negative emotions of anxiety and tension, her high blood pressure would most likely be cured without medication.

1. Mental stress can cause high blood pressure. Excessive mental stress is also one of the factors that induce high blood pressure. Especially among young and middle-aged people with high blood pressure, negative emotions such as anxiety and depression caused by work and life pressure are common factors that induce high blood pressure. At the same time as high blood pressure, there are also symptoms such as frequent anxiety, irritability, insomnia, and palpitations.

Symptoms of this type of hypertension are usually characterized by elevated diastolic blood pressure (over 90 mmHg), and most people experience an increased heart rate (over 80 beats/minute). The pathogenesis is likely due to excessive mental stress, which causes overexcitement of the sympathetic nerves and excessive secretion of catecholamine hormones, resulting in contraction of peripheral arterioles, increased resistance, and ultimately hypertension.

2. To treat high blood pressure, you must first eliminate your nervousness. After discovering that she had high blood pressure, this friend was worried that she might have a serious illness, which led to a more serious anxiety state, causing her blood pressure to deteriorate further. Huazi told her that to treat high blood pressure, she must first eliminate her nervousness.

Although high blood pressure can cause damage to multiple organs such as the heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes, it usually takes a long time for this to happen. Uncontrolled high blood pressure usually takes 5 years to cause damage, and serious complications will only occur after 10 years. As long as high blood pressure can be controlled in time, organ damage can be avoided. There is no need to be too anxious about the new high blood pressure.

Her current anxiety is actually "groundless worry". If only the low blood pressure is elevated and the high blood pressure is normal, it means that the elasticity of the aorta is very good and there is no hardening. As long as timely treatment is given and the progression of high blood pressure is controlled, there will be no serious consequences. If the nervousness can be controlled, high blood pressure may be reversed.

To eliminate tension, we should start with lifestyle. For example, we should stay away from tobacco and alcohol, limit salt intake to 3-6 grams per day, maintain a reasonable weight, eat balanced nutrition, and ensure sleep time; do aerobic exercise to relax, such as jogging, cycling, swimming, Tai Chi, etc.; you can also listen to soothing music, meditate, participate in community activities, etc. to release mental stress.

3. Drug treatment for emotion-related hypertension When the high blood pressure exceeds 140 mmHg, or the low blood pressure exceeds 90 mmHg, it can be diagnosed as hypertension. When hypertension is first discovered, if the high blood pressure does not exceed 160 mmHg and the low blood pressure does not exceed 100 mmHg, you can try non-drug intervention first. If the blood pressure exceeds 160/100 mmHg, or non-drug intervention is still ineffective for more than 3 months, drug treatment is required.

In terms of the choice of antihypertensive drugs, if the resting heart rate is over 80, loral drugs that have a heart rate lowering effect are usually used. If the resting heart rate is less than 80, sartan drugs that have an inhibitory effect on angiotensin 2 receptors are usually used. If the control effect of a single drug is not good, both can be combined with dihydrotestosterone drugs.

It should be noted that centrally acting antihypertensive drugs such as clonidine and reserpine have adverse reactions that may cause depression, which may aggravate negative emotions and even lead to suicide, so their use is not recommended.

For hypertension caused by mental stress, antihypertensive treatment is only a "temporary treatment", and relieving mental stress is the "root cause". Mental stress can cause autonomic nervous system disorders. Under the guidance of a doctor, you can use drugs such as oryzanol, folic acid, vitamin B12, etc. that have a regulating effect on the autonomic nervous system to improve the function of the autonomic nervous system.

If you cannot break free from negative emotions by your own strength, it is a good choice to seek help from a psychologist in time. If the anxiety symptoms are severe, you need to use anti-anxiety drugs under the guidance of a doctor. People with depression will 100% have anxiety symptoms, so they need to use antidepressants for treatment.

In summary, the essential cause of high blood pressure related to mental stress is autonomic nervous system disorder. It will not cause organ damage in the short term, and as long as blood pressure is controlled in time, there will be no major problems. If you can relieve mental stress, the symptoms of high blood pressure will disappear, so there is no need to panic.

While controlling blood pressure, you also need to regulate autonomic nervous system disorders. You need to develop a drug treatment plan under the guidance of a doctor. If you have any questions about medication, please consult a doctor or pharmacist. I am pharmacist Huazi. Welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.