Blood Pressure

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58.     People who drink excessively, mostly consume unhealthy meals and are generally found to be deficient in potassium, magnesium and calcium; which contributes to high BP. A study found that heavy drinking on empty stomach raises the risk of high BP by 40% over those who habitually nibbled nuts etc while drinking.

Caffeine

59.     Caffeine in coffee, tea, chocolate and cola drinks stimulates central nervous system, gastric secretion and raises free fatty acids and temporarily raises the blood pressure level. Caffeine increases the production of angiotensin-II, a natural hormone, in your body that constricts blood vessels and the result is raised BP. If you take 2-3 cups of coffee at a time, containing 200-250 mg. of caffeine, your BP may rise by about 10 points and it usually remains elevated for about 2 hours or so. Thus people suffering even from mild BP should avoid consuming caffeine before they exercise. So, if you like coffee and daily exercise, continue to enjoy both – just not together.

Kidneys

60.     In a very small minority of people, we can find underlying kidney diseases that are the cause of high BP. The kidneys play an important role in controlling blood pressure through secretion of rennin, a natural chemical. If increased rennin is secreted by the kidneys, more salts are retained in the body, which leads to an increase in the volume of circulating blood and consequently to an increase in the blood pressure. Repeated infections and inflammation of the kidneys can also give rise to hypertension.

Uric Acid

61.     Evidence is mounting that uric acid may be implicated in hypertension and other related diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol level and obesity. There is also evidence that uric acid concentrations in the blood tend to increase with age and that the accompanying decrease in blood flow through kidneys is a definite risk factor for raised BP and coronary heart diseases.

Takayasu Arteritis (TA)

62.     This recently discovered disease by the PGI, Chandigarh causes narrowing of blood vessels in younger people (mostly women) and is the most common cause (50-60%) of secondary hypertension in South East Asia (including India) populations because of their genetic bodily pre-disposition to it. The research has revealed that TA is an “immune-deficiency disorder”.