How to prevent and treat hypertension in autumn and winter?

After the National Day holiday, the autumn and winter seasons are coming, and the temperature drops sharply, which will have a certain impact on the health of patients with hypertension. If you have high blood pressure, you must pay attention to how cold weather affects your blood pressure and learn how to prevent and treat high blood pressure?

Why does winter affect your high blood pressure?

The results of the study show that the incidence of hypertension usually soars in the winter and drops in the summer. This is caused by a variety of reasons, such as: the lower temperature in winter causes the veins and arteries to narrow, so the heart needs to increase the force of contraction to pump blood into the blood vessels. In addition, as the temperature drops, the patient's activity decreases, the body's salt intake increases, and as the temperature drops in winter, the body will regulate blood flow to slow down, which are all factors that increase blood pressure. In addition, people are less exposed to sunlight in winter, and vitamin D deficiency is also associated with an increased risk of hypertension. In fact, just 15 minutes of sunlight exposure a day is enough for patients to obtain the equivalent of 2000 IU of vitamin D. Finally, lack of physical activity and a large amount of unhealthy food may also be factors in increased blood pressure in cold seasons.

How can you ensure winter doesn’t affect your high blood pressure?

Now that we understand why high blood pressure is affected by winter, there are steps we can take to better manage our health.

Change your diet

Patients should develop healthy lifestyle habits to better control high blood pressure. Following the DASH diet pattern, also known as the DASH diet, is a diet designed for the "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension" and recommends consuming more vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy products, as well as limited amounts of whole grains, fish, poultry, and nuts in your daily diet. This diet is also low in sodium and is a balanced way to control high blood pressure, especially if you want to supplement in the winter, so you should pay more attention to your diet.

Minimize going out

Strenuous physical activity in the cold can put too much pressure on the circulatory system, causing high blood pressure and even affecting your heart. It is recommended that patients with hypertension, especially those who are older, should avoid outdoor activities. Even indoors, strenuous exercise should be avoided; if you really want to exercise outdoors, you can do moderate outdoor exercise during warmer periods. In fact, morning exercise in winter is not scientific.

Avoid alcohol and coffee

In northern cities, although there is a habit of drinking one or two glasses of wine to warm up the body in winter, it is not recommended. Alcohol and caffeine are considered to be drinks used to keep warm in cold seasons, but they will be counterproductive because they will speed up the blood flow and take away more heat. Instead, drink black tea, hot apple juice and other beverages, which will keep you warm, avoid cold stimulation, and keep you healthy.

Keep warm

Since temperature changes can affect blood pressure, it is important to keep your body warm. Make sure you always wear warm clothing during cold weather, keep your room warm, and always wear gloves and a scarf when you go outside. Try to prevent yourself from being exposed to cold outdoor weather for long periods of time, which increases your risk of developing high blood pressure.

Make sure you get enough activity

Although we should avoid extreme activities or outdoor activities in winter, we should not use this as an excuse to become lazy. Moderate-intensity activities such as indoor Tai Chi, Ba Duan Jin, or low-intensity aerobics will keep the cardiovascular system active, maintain normal cardiopulmonary function, and avoid muscle atrophy.

Get enough sleep

Insomnia can cause sympathetic nerve excitement, which can lead to increased heart rate, vasoconstriction, and increased blood pressure. Many studies have shown that the incidence of hypertension in people who sleep less than 5 hours is 2.1 times that of people with normal sleep. Severe insomnia can cause the blood pressure of hypertensive patients to continue to rise and become difficult to control. After rest is improved, blood pressure will gradually stabilize.

Check your blood pressure

In addition to feeling whether you have symptoms of high blood pressure, you also need to self-test and record your blood pressure. Use a calibrated electronic sphygmomanometer or mercury sphygmomanometer to monitor and record your blood pressure at the same time every day or every week, usually once in the morning when you get up and before going to bed. If you find that your blood pressure is unstable, don't panic. You need to measure it again after 10 minutes. If you find abnormalities, you can consult a professional doctor to take measures.

Although the cold autumn and winter seasons bring some challenges and risks to people with high blood pressure, if you make adjustments or develop better living habits, you will definitely have a comfortable and healthy autumn and winter.

Author: Liu Bo, attending physician, Department of Cardiology, Henan Armed Police Corps Hospital