I’ll never forget my first introduction to high blood pressure. Like most Americans, I had little understanding about its dangers, causes, and cures. In fact, the medicine the doctor prescribed seemed no different to me than the typical antibiotic treatments that had been taken in the past. My attitude was purely science-based. "Pop a few pills and watch your condition improve."

If only it had been that easy.

That first introduction to high blood pressure happened during my late teen years. My parents had divorced when I was a young child. My mother instantly took on the dual roles of being my "mommy" and "daddy." She was a single-parent who took her role very seriously. She found the best-paying job available for a woman without a formal education. Her job at the Internal Revenue Service was no more stressful than the daily challenges of being a single parent. She worked full-time, did her best to keep the house clean, fought with bill-collectors, and focussed her energies on raising her two children.

Exhausted from her busy day, Mom would sometimes opt for easy meals or fast-food options for dinner. Instead of going for her daily walk, like she used to do while married, Mom soon became too tired to exercise. Life as a single parent was an ongoing battle to meet deadlines, pay bills, and emotionally fill the voids of her two children.

On the outside she seemed healthy and together, but on the inside her body was slowly boiling. There were no symptoms, no warning signs to let any of us know the danger that was lurking inside her blood vessels. Then the day came when the truth was discovered. My mother was so dizzy that she couldn’t even complete her daily tasks at work. A visit to the office nurse revealed a dangerously high blood pressure reading. The nurse scribbled a note on a piece of paper that was hand-delivered to Mom’s supervisor. My mother was being sent home from work early that day and was advised to make an appointment to be seen by her physician.

That afternoon, a visit to her doctor’s office brought the diagnosis.

"You have stage three hypertension," the tall and slender doctor confirmed as he stared into my mother’s eyes. His words were spoken slowly and deliberately. Moments later, a handful of drug samples were thrust into my mother’s hands.

I had been called that morning to make the appointment and was also asked to take her to the doctor’s office. So I was sitting only inches away from her when the doctor gave his diagnosis. I do not recall any specific information about why her blood pressure may have gotten so high, nor do I remember any special talks about what should be done to bring the blood pressure down to a lower reading. I only remember the drugs. Oh, I’m sure the doctor gave her a few pamphlets or handouts about high blood pressure. But medicine seemed to be the center of that day’s introduction to high blood pressure.

Oddly, I also remember feeling at ease with the diagnosis. That’s because I was operating on pure ignorance when it came to such a diagnosis. Yes, I understood that Mom’s blood pressure reading was abnormally high. I understood that the doctor was planning on prescribing medication to lower her blood pressure. But what I didn’t understand was the devastation that had already attacked several of my mother’s vital organs. I didn’t understand the repercussions that would emerge as the prescribed drugs brought their side effects, nor did I understand the full scope of the high blood pressure diagnosis. The future was a blur that I was unable to comprehend, let alone predict.

That day was the first glimpse I took into the painful realities of this devastating condition. That’s because the high blood pressure diagnosis came too late. There is no test that can be run to determine the exact moment Mom’s blood pressure began to rise to an unhealthy level. There is no special formula to discover when her high blood pressure began causing internal problems inside her body. All that we know is that damage was done. Like a leaky valve in the boiler room of a powerful ship, Mom’s high blood pressure had blown a few gaskets, so to speak. In time she would develop heart disease. Her heartbeat would divert to an irregular rhythm and she would fall into a pattern called "atrial fibrillation." Mom’s heart would become enlarged. Eventually she would be diagnosed with "congestive heart failure" and would end up being hospitalized three times for this same diagnosis. My mother would also develop diabetes.

Yes, I remember the day I was first introduced to high blood pressure. How could I ever forget it? I remember that day very well because it marked a change within my family. That future that seemed so blurry would bring disability into my mother’s life and would also usher in the day when she was forced to resign from her job due to declining health. High blood pressure became the root cause of a series of health conditions.

Let me make one point clear early on. What my family didn’t understand back then was that high blood pressure is a symptom and not a disease in and of itself. High blood pressure is a serious condition that must be controlled or reversed with lifestyle changes. Untreated hypertension is the cause of many intertwined health conditions.

My mother took the prescribed drugs and did not make any lifestyle changes. That’s a big reason why her health declined to such a devastating level. The good news is that my mother’s health is now improving. Yours can, too.

Maybe you too have been diagnosed with hypertension, the medical term for high blood pressure. Perhaps you’ve started out like my mother did. You’ve taken the medications and have watched your health decline. Or maybe you have recently been diagnosed or are a family member of someone battling this condition. Please take heart and read on. This program can literally be a life saver.

Before we get into the program, let’s start with a few basic facts about high blood pressure. This condition usually starts out as a gradual increase in overall blood pressure. Perhaps a prolonged stressful event triggers a natural rise in blood pressure. It may start out as a few points higher than the normal reading, but in time it can balloon out to uncontrolled levels. Maybe a diet rich in high-fat foods leads to obesity, which causes strain on the heart muscle. Or maybe a person consumes large volumes of alcohol or chooses to smoke cigarettes. High blood pressure can have many potential causes. Once present in the body, high blood pressure creates strain on the heart and the body’s tissues. This ongoing reality creates new illnesses inside the body and thereby shortens life.

When it comes to high blood pressure, most people fall into one of two camps: those who know they have high blood pressure and understand its dangers, and those who are in some way uninformed of their condition . The vast majority of Americans are walking around ignorant of the potential killer that is lurking inside their bodies. That’s because high blood pressure is a "silent killer" that can go undetected for years. It is estimated that one out of every four Americans, or 50 million people, has high blood pressure. Of that group, about one in three do not even know they have hypertension.

The American Heart Association blames high blood pressure as the root cause for most stroke victims, claiming that it is the number one risk factor for a stroke. In fact, people who have high blood pressure are seven times more likely to die from a stroke than other, otherwise healthy individuals.

A stroke is what took the life of our 32nd President and brought the issue of high blood pressure to the forefront. Franklin D. Roosevelt had been given a clean bill of health by his attending physicians weeks before his death. Yet even while conducting their health screening, his doctors had noticed that his blood pressure reading was about double the average reading. Such a blood pressure reading taken today would more than likely lead to hospitalization and aggressive measures to bring the blood pressure down. But in the 1940s, blood pressure was not scrutinized as a potent warning sign for impending health dangers. In fact, blood pressure was not even understood to be an epidemic that can lead to death.

Roosevelt’s doctors didn’t even have any medications available to control high blood pressure back then. More importantly, no lifestyle modifications were recommended in that time period that could otherwise allow a person to avoid the reality called "hypertension." Because of the then-current medical knowledge, doctors were clueless about the dangers of high blood pressure and literally looked the other way when taking F.D.R.’s blood pressure readings. History is clear on this fact. Roosevelt’s personal physician was so untrained on the issue of high blood pressure that his comments following the President’s death are recorded as being that the stroke "came out of the clear blue sky." Today, modern doctors and health care practitioners know better.

Yes, doctors and other health care practitioners now know that a diagnosis of high blood pressure is serious news. If it goes untreated, hypertension can lead to blood clots, hardening of the arteries, high cholesterol, heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease, eye damage, reproductive organ damage, diabetes, aneurysms, and heart disease–just to name a few of its most potent dangers. About half of all Americans who die from heart disease alone could have the root of their death traced back to an earlier reality of high blood pressure. As I’ve already stated, that’s because high blood pressure is not even a disease in and of itself. It is instead a risk factor for other diseases.

So how does a person diagnosed with this condition tackle the problem? First of all, you need to understand that high blood pressure is a lifelong condition. Once you are diagnosed with this condition, you will need to follow-up with regular blood pressure checks to make sure you are keeping your blood pressure under control. And if you have not been diagnosed with high blood pressure or suspect that you may have high blood pressure, then I strongly urge you to get a reading immediately. Knowing your reading now will help you be able to control your high blood pressure later.

If you have already been diagnosed with hypertension and are right now feeling a sting of panic over these harsh facts, please relax a little. A diagnosis of high blood pressure does NOT have to be a death sentence. In fact, the program that you will be introduced to in this e-book will enable you to beat the odds and bring your high blood pressure down to acceptable levels within a short period of time.

Here’s the good news: High blood pressure does not cause damage to your body overnight. If you stay on top of your reading and get aggressive about making lifestyle changes, then you do have hope of leading a healthy lifestyle tomorrow. The scientific facts of today are very clear. Making a few sensible lifestyle changes can lower high blood pressure. Together we will explore how to make these changes. Your blood pressure is in your control. So don’t feel scared. Instead, choose to act on the present reality. You can avoid the consequences of this condition or you can face a future of declining health and imminent death. The choice is yours.

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Disclaimer: The information within this e-book is intended as reference material only and not as medical or professional advice. Information contained herein is intended to give you the tools you need to make informed decisions about your lifestyle and health. It should not be used as a substitute for any treatment that has been prescribed or recommended by your physician. The author and publisher are not healthcare professionals, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for any adverse effects occurring as a result of use of the suggestions or information contained herein. This book is offered as current information available about high blood pressure and health management for your own education and enjoyment. If you suspect that you have high blood pressure, it is imperative that you seek medical attention. And, as always, never begin a dietary or exercise program without first consulting with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Before we can get into the program, we must first begin at the beginning. What is blood pressure? To answer this question, let’s pretend that we are back in school and have just walked into our third hour science class. The topic of the day is blood pressure. We sit down in our seats and settle our books on the table in front of us. We will not want to miss a moment of this lecture. Our lives depend on it.

For starters, we learn that blood pressure is essential for life. Our blood could not even circulate around our bodies if it were not for the "push" of blood that causes the blood to circulate.

Have you ever turned a water faucet on? Then you have a basic framework to understand how blood pressure works. The water pressure inside the pipes allows the water to flow into the sink. The more pressure, the faster the water flows. More on this later.

Right now, let’s imagine that our pretend teacher has just flipped out a chart of the human body and is pointing to the human heart. "Our story of how blood pressure works starts here," she says with a smile on her lips. The heart is an important component of the circulatory system inside our bodies. It is a giant pump that is made up of muscular tissues. This vital organ has four chambers that work together to pump blood throughout the body. The four chambers of the heart are known as the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle.

"Huh?" You may say out loud as you stumble over the four names. "How do they work?" seems to be the primary question.

Think for a moment about the heartbeat that is inside your body. Each beat of your heart brings with it a rush of blood that pumps throughout your entire body in a matter of milliseconds. The heartbeat releases the blood from the left ventricle, which is your heart’s primary pumping chamber. This released blood is directed into a stream of connected blood vessels that spread throughout your entire body. It’s easiest to think of this framework as a giant web of interconnected and intricate microscopic blood vessels that span throughout your entire body.

But this is only the beginning of the story. Arteries are also inside your body. These blood vessels supply oxygen and other nutrients to your body’s tissues and organs. The aorta is the largest artery and is connected to the left ventricle of your heart. The aorta is the main pathway the blood leaving your heart takes as it enters the body. Arterioles branch off from the aorta and are smaller versions of the artery.

Capillaries are tiny blood vessels that line your body’s tissues and organs. The blood that leaves the left ventricle travels through the aorta and blood vessels to the capillaries where an important exchange takes place between the arterioles and capillaries. The capillaries take in fresh oxygen and nutrients as waste products are sent into a system of blood vessels called veins.

The process continues all the way back to the heart. Most of the waste products that were dumped into the veins are directed to the right ventricle and are then sent to the lungs where they are released as carbon dioxide. (Some waste products are also sent to the kidneys to be released in your urine.) The lungs breathe in fresh oxygen and start the whole process all over again as the left ventricle beats a new surge of blood back through the body.

The blood vessels that house the blood travel a distance of 60,000 miles. The blood vessels are microscopic tubes that are soft and elastic. They are able to stretch and expand as the body’s 11 pints of blood pumps through them. The arteries are lined with smooth muscles that also enable them to expand and contract as blood circulates through them. If the vessels and arteries are elasticity, then they are able to withstand the pressure exerted on them and will cause the blood to flow with little force. Hardened arteries, however, automatically lead to an increase in blood pressure because they are not able to expand and contract.

Do you recall what I said at the beginning of this chapter? Blood pressure is literally the "push of blood" that is exerted through the blood vessels. Blood pressure exists in all blood vessels and is necessary for proper blood function. Pressure is typically highest in the arteries (where the fresh blood comes from) and lowest in the veins (where the waste products are sent to the lungs). And a higher volume of blood leads to a higher level of blood pressure in the blood vessels.

Returning to our "teacher" theme, let’s right now imagine her holding up a garden hose and telling us that the easiest way to understand blood pressure is to relate it to a garden hose. As you turn the spicket on, the water from the hose begins to trickle to the other end. The higher the faucet pressure is turned the faster the water squirts from the hose. If the hose is bent or twisted, the pressure inside the hose expands. If the hose is clogged up or the water pressure is turned up extremely high, then the hose could actually crack and cause a leak to spew from it.

Inside our bodies, the contraction or relaxation of the muscles inside the arteries allow blood flow to be regulated, much like the way we control water flow by turning a spicket on, off, or down. An elasticity vessel can stretch as blood pumps through it. But a hardened vessel only experiences the extreme force of blood as it charges through it. This can lead to higher blood pressure.

Blood pressure is also controlled by blood volume (how much blood is going through the blood vessels), the contraction of the heart muscle, the rate of our heartbeat, and the thickness of our blood. For example, if our blood is too thick, blood pressure will rise. Likewise, if our heart beats faster, then pressure will also rise.

But we are forgetting right now an important part of the whole circulatory system process.

Our kidneys also play a role in this process. The kidneys control the amount of sodium that is present in our bodies. Sodium causes us to retain water. So the more sodium in our diets, the higher the amount of water that’s present in our blood. And guess what? More water in the blood causes a rise in blood volume, which leads to an increase in blood pressure.

There are other bodily functions that also contribute to the process. For example, our central nervous system releases certain hormones and enzymes into our bodies that can affect blood pressure.

When we are under stress, our brain sends a message for our body to release the hormone epinephrine (EP-i-NEF-rin), also known as adrenaline. This hormone, which causes the "flight or fight" reaction, also motivates us to charge through and complete a task within a short time frame. Adrenaline causes our arteries to narrow. It also encourages our heart rate to become more rapid. Do you recall what I said a few paragraphs ago? A faster heart rate and narrowed, or less-elasticity blood vessels will lead to increases in blood pressure.

It makes it easier to think of the process this way: the harder your heart has to work, the greater the pressure it will exert on the walls of your arteries. The more pressure exerted on the walls of the arteries, the higher your blood pressure will rise. And the higher your blood pressure rises, the more likely your body will suffer from "blows" inside the system.

So what, then, is the exact definition of hypertension (A.K.A. high blood pressure)? Well, a precise definition has been somewhat subjective over the past several decades. (That’s a nice way to "dodge the bullet," isn’t it?) Let me explain. Scientists have only empirical means to determine the definition of high blood pressure. This means that the methods doctors use to determine a normal blood pressure reading are based upon observation. The modern recommended blood pressure levels were determined by taking readings of a large group of human populations. The studies determined the level of health people seemed to experience for the average readings. From those observations, scientists went on to develop some conclusions based on their findings. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says that optimal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg. So, then, high blood pressure would be any reading greater than this optimal number. The general definition of high blood pressure is "increased pressure in the arteries that continues on a persistent basis." And the higher the pressure, the greater the health risk.

A blood pressure reading is measured in millimeters of mercury, or mm Hg. If that sounds Greek to you right now, then you’re not alone. It did to me at first, too. But it’s actually quite easy to understand. What millimeters of mercury relates to is how high the pressure in your arteries can raise a column of mercury. Think of a tire gauge and how you measure the air pressure in your car tires. The principle is the same for measuring blood pressure. That’s sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?

The reading is obtained by a sphygmomanometer (SFIG-mo-mah-NOM-uh-tur). This instrument has several components. The first is an inflatable cuff that’s strapped to your upper arm. This strap has an attached air pump and a column of mercury (or pressure gauge) connected to it. As the cuff is pumped up, it compresses the brachial artery, temporarily interrupting the blood flow traveling through this artery. The column of mercury rises from zero to a number well above 100.

The person taking the reading listens to your heartbeat with a stethoscope that is inserted underneath the inflating cuff. As the pressure in the cuff is pumped up, loud tapping sounds begin to emanate from your artery. This loud tapping sound relates to the first of two blood pressure readings. The first reading, called the systolic pressure, is linked to the amount of pressure in your arteries the moment your heart contracts and pumps blood into the aorta. The person taking the reading will listen for this tapping sound. The sound will then suddenly stop. The mercury level read the moment the tapping sound disappears provides the systolic pressure reading.

Next, a valve on the air pump is released, allowing air to slowly escape out of the cuff. The heartbeat, or tapping sound suddenly begins again. The Mercy column now equals the diastolic pressure reading. Diastolic pressure relates to the amount of pressure that remains in your arteries in between heartbeats. (Or when your heart is filling with blood.) As your heart relaxes to fill with blood, your blood pressure decreases. Thus the diastolic pressure reading tells the doctor what the relaxed heart beat pressure is.

To simplify this information, think of systolic as "when the heart beats" and diastolic as "when the heart relaxes."

The below chart lists out the blood pressure ranges for optimal, normal and high blood pressure. All high blood pressure (regardless of it’s stage one, two, or three hypertension) can create deadly illness if it remains high for a long duration of time.

Optimal Less than 120 mm Hg (Systolic) and Less than 80 mm Hg (Diastolic)

Normal 110 to 129 mm Hg (Systolic) and 80 to 84 mm Hg (Diastolic)

High Normal 130 to 139 mm Hg (Systolic) or 85 to 89 mm Hg (Diastolic)

Stage 1 140 to 159 mm Hg (Systolic) or 90 to 99 mm Hg (Diastolic)

Stage 2 160 to 179 mm Hg (Systolic) or 100 to 109 mm Hg (Diastolic)

Stage 3 180 or higher mm Hg (Systolic) or 110 or higher mm Hg (Diastolic)

The diastolic and systolic pressures are typically written as a fraction with the systolic number written above or to the left of the diastolic number. The reading uses the word "over" to separate the two readings. For example, less than "one-twenty over eighty" is the typical, optimal blood pressure reading.

Think right now of the blood flowing in your arteries as a river. I recently went on a canoe trip with my spouse. The trip started out over quiet and shallow waters. The riverbank was thriving with green plant life and we could easily see the bottom of the riverbed and its covering of rocks and river plants. But a little ways down the river, we ran into some rapids. I was enthralled by the deep gouges cut into the sides of the river. The life thriving in this area was quite different from the plant life we first encountered. It seemed that few plants could survive close to the water’s edge here because the ongoing water current kept cutting into the riverbank. This gouging seemed to destroy most types of plant life. Our blood vessels are no different. Normal blood pressure allows blood to flow through our body at a normal rate, bringing life and stability to our being. But like a strong current of water that surges along the riverbanks, high blood pressure erodes artery walls and destroys life.

Among the devastation that high blood pressure wreaks on our bodies is an enlarged heart. The heart muscle is aggravated by the extra pressure in the arteries and ends up beating harder and faster to accommodate for the extra pressure. This in time weakens the heart muscle and can lead to an enlarged heart muscle. In time, a weakened or enlarged heart muscle can even cause heart failure and / or death.

An untreated high blood pressure reality can also damage other vital organs and tissues throughout the body. The facts are simple on this. The higher your blood pressure, the greater the risk is that damage will occur inside your body.

The most frightening fact about high blood pressure is that it develops slowly over time. A person can walk around and function with high blood pressure for many months before any health changes start to take place inside the body. This is one of the reasons high blood pressure is referred to as the "silent killer." By the time a person may learn of a high blood pressure reality, internal damage can already be initiated. If high blood pressure continues to soar, then the damage levels multiply, as do the risks for a stroke, heart disease, or other complications.

The only "good" blood pressure reading is one that is within the optimal or normal range. If you have a reading that is even in the high normal range, then please make a commitment right now to follow the 60-day program and make it a life-long habit. It’s much better to avoid a health catastrophe than to allow it to go unchecked.

Blood pressure is essential for human life to even function. The blood and the blood vessels all form an intricate web that interacts with the heart and the rest of the circulatory system. You do not need to be a science student, let alone a scientist, to realize the importance of this bodily function. But blood pressure that turns into "high blood pressure" can create new health challenges and can even destroy human life.

Knowing your systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings is a good first start to help you determine how imminent your risk factor is for the health complications associated with high blood pressure.