High Blood Pressure: What is morning hypertension and how to curb it?

High Blood Pressure aka high BP is one of the common ailments in the world. Did you know that one in three people suffer the same? Today we are talking about morning hypertension. Blood pressure keeps fluctuating throughout the day and tends to increase during the morning. However, for many people, blood pressure can be abnormally high in the mornings and the same is known as morning hypertension. 

The morning hypertension is of great concern as the same can lead to stroke and heart attack. As per a study, stroke and other serious cardiac-related conditions happen after the first 4–6 hours after waking. It is vital to know the causes of high BP and how one can curb it. Speaking of causes of high levels of hypertension during the morning, the same include stress or anxiety, lack of physical activity, poor diet and lifestyle, too much consumption of salt, smoking, too much alcohol intake and obesity among others. Other health complications that can put people at higher risk of morning hypertension are high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, sleep apnea, diabetes, thyroid, lupus and kidney diseases among others.

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The normal BP is 120/80 mm Hg, however, if your reading is between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg then the same indicates that you are at the risk of developing high BP. If the readings are beyond 140/90 mm Hg then you are suffering from the same. So, in order to keep morning hypertension at bay, many people take their medications at night before bed then morning to keep better control of blood pressure. However, it differs from person to person. So, your doctor may or may not recommend the intake of medications at night. So, do not change your timings without consulting your doctor.

Common symptoms 

The problem with high blood pressure is that it is insidious and there few symptoms and they are easily missable. So, one should keep checking BP on a regular basis. Ideally, one should measure BP after emptying the bladder. One should also rest and be stress-free before measuring to get perfect readings. Avoid smoking, drinking alcohol and exercising within 30 minutes of measuring.

Prevention

Aside from medication, lifestyle changes will help you to curb and prevent the morning high Bp and hypertension in general. Ideally, one should eat a healthy and balanced diet that is low in sodium, refined sugar, and saturated fat, limit your smoking and intake of alcohol, increase the intake of potassium-rich food items. Exercising for 90–150 minutes each week, try and achieve BMI of around  18.5 and 24.9 and manage stress and anxiety amkoing others.