 What is blood pressure to begin with? My blood sugar is high because I ate pizza. Most people with heart attacks and strokes, they have a common problem, which is... According to a new study, people with diabetes who meet the goal for blood pressure and cholesterol are more likely to avoid heart attacks and strokes than those who do not. And those who did not care much about their blood pressure or who denied that they had a blood pressure problem had a lot more heart attacks and strokes. Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Ahmet Ergen, I'm an endocrinologist and diabetes specialist. We're talking about the importance of blood pressure today. Stay on the video because I have my three hacks hidden somewhere in this video, and I'm sure you will find that useful. A new study indicated that reducing the blood pressure and cholesterol is more beneficial in preventing heart disease than controlling your blood sugar. Wait, wait, wait a minute. Well, this doesn't imply really that diabetes should just disregard their blood sugar readings because high blood sugar can cause a lot of other issues such as neuropathy, kidney disease, eye disease, etc. But other risk factors like for cardiovascular disease should also be taken into consideration greatly. When you don't, you're basically accepting the defeat to heart disease. So simply put, just because your blood sugar is normal does not mean you will not die from a heart attack at an early age. If you did not control your blood pressure better, or your cholesterol better. But today we will concentrate on the blood pressure control. I will give you details of the study as well. The majority of the past research has focused on one or two of these risk variables, such as the blood pressure versus cholesterol, etc. But not all three at once. But in this study they looked at that you want to see blood pressure and cholesterol. And for the first time in history, researchers have published that the results of that controlling three risk factors was amazing. All three risk variables were satisfied by only 13% of people, which is kind of a shame. But those people who had optimal control of the glucose and the blood pressure and cholesterol, they had 2.5 times reduced rate of heart attack and stroke and hospitalization from these problems. So why am I so concerned about the high blood pressure? Because according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely than people without diabetes to develop cardiovascular disease. And most people with diabetes die from a heart attack or stroke. And as you may know from our other videos, the ABCs of diabetes, which is A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol, have been shown to lessen the risk of heart disease. But until today it was not really clear which of these risk factors were most beneficial. So let's talk about the blood pressure. What is blood pressure to begin with, right? So here's what the blood pressure is. In bodies or arteries, the blood pressure is the force exerted by the circulating blood against arterial walls. When we call it hypertension or elevated blood pressure, we talk about this excess of blood pressure. Blood pressure is two digits. The first is what we call the systolic, which represents the blood vessel pressure when the heart contracts. The second number is diastolic, which represents the pressure in your arteries between the beats. Maintaining a blood pressure reading of less than 130 over 80 millimeter mercury and an LDL cholesterol less than 100 milligram per deciliter and an A1C less than 7 and if possible less than 6.5 is definitely recommended for optimal management. Well, here's the truth. The percent of adults aged 20 or over with high blood pressure with or without taking medication is up to 50 percent. So half of the population actually has it. And here's a funny story. When my patients come in and get their blood pressure checked and is high, there's a common explanation. They'll say traffic was horrible. My husband pissed me off this morning. I'm under a lot of stress. I can take my blood pressure medicine this morning. My back hurts. Is always highs in doctor's office. My blood pressure is normal everywhere else. I don't have a blood pressure problem. I don't feel any problem. My blood pressure is high because my head hurts. As you can see, nobody wants to accept that they have a blood pressure problem. The truth of the fact that they have no idea about how much risk they're taking by not taking it seriously. What I tell them is that my blood pressure does not go up and my back hurts or because the traffic was heavy for me. If your blood pressure is so labile, going up and down so easily, there is a problem. So what's the difference of your blood sugar going up after eating an apple or sometimes, you know, do you say that to your doctor? Hey, that my blood sugar is high because I ate pizza. What's the difference from saying, you know, my blood pressure is up because there's traffic or something? Same thing, right? So if your blood sugar is going up because you eat something, that means you have a problem, your body is not handling the carbs. If you get stressed and traffic is heavy, your blood pressure is going up, you have a blood pressure problem. You cannot just blame things and blame things. If you have a blood pressure problem, the best to accept it and make sure you find ways to control that blood pressure. I am telling you right now. Every 20 millimeter mercury increase in your blood pressure doubles the risk of your stroke and heart attack. Every 20 increase in your systolic and every 10 increase in your diastolic actually. The increased risks present in individuals generally is, you know, started at age 40. So there is a doubling of mortality, both from stroke and heart attack. Every time your blood pressure is 20 higher on systolic and 10 higher on diastolic. The ideal blood pressure is 120 over 70. But when you have diabetes, we consider 130 over 80 acceptable. And if you have blood pressure above 120 over 80, I would say find a way to get it done. In a second, I will give you some of the statistics that will drop your jaw. But before that, just remember to have a low salt diet. Take your meds or supplements. And by the way, check our new blood pressure support supplement. If you're not into or begin to take medications, the description has the link in the video description below. It has garlic, hibiscus, hot torn, olive oil, olive leaf extract and so forth. Here are some scary statistics I was just talking about. Only around half of the people with high blood pressure have it under control. Every day, almost 1000 people die as a result of high blood pressure. Approximately 30% of people in the United States have high blood pressure at least and they are actually unaware of the problem. So 50% of people have high blood pressure and 30% of the people in the United States have a high blood pressure problem and they don't even know it. Pre-hypertension also affects at least 30% of American adults and that increases the chance of having high blood pressure, of course. What else? High blood pressure affects 70% of people who have their first heart attack and 77% of people who have their first stroke. So most people with heart attacks and strokes, they have a common problem, which is a high blood pressure. It is a primary or contributing cause over 350,000 fatalities in the United States every year. And the United States is not the only country dealing with the high blood pressure. Globally, 40% of people age 25 and up had high blood pressure. Why people with diabetes tend to have high blood pressure? Good question, right? As high glucose blood circulates throughout your body, it can cause significant damage to your arteries and to your blood vessels and to your kidneys. Well, these organs play an important role in maintaining your normal blood pressure. When there are damage such as your vasculature, your vessels and arteries and kidneys, your blood pressure will go up and they will increase the risk of complications. So high glucose in the blood can raise your blood pressure in three ways. Your blood vessels ability to stretch will be lost. The fluid level in the body will rise, especially if diabetes has already harmed the kidneys. And the insulin resistance also has been associated with the mechanisms that raise the risk of high blood pressure. So what are the risk factors that causes high blood pressure other than diabetes? So you can maybe eliminate some of these risk factors to help prevent the blood pressure from worsening. Now, number one is holding excessive weight, eating unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle, being stressed, sleeping poorly, smoking, older age, high fat and high salt in your diet, low potassium in your diet and other chronic disorders such as sleep apnea, kidney disease, inflammatory arthritis, low vitamin D levels. And guess what? I think we can change some of these risk factors, right? Here are three hacks that you can remember to lower your blood pressure today. Well, number one, exercise, exercise, exercise. Regular exercise has been demonstrated to significantly lower your blood pressure. Regular exercise, what else it does? It strengthens and improves the efficiency of your heart pumping the blood. And the less work your heart has to do to circulate the blood, the lower the arterial blood pressure becomes. Exercise also helps with the weight loss, which is crucial in lowering your blood pressure. So work out every day. You need to really pay attention to your cardio as well, not just lifting, as your heart rate needs to stay up at least 30 minutes, five days a week to bring your blood pressure down significantly. But if you cannot do that, even a small walk is better than nothing. If that's all you can do, if you have physical limitation and so forth. Number two, again, nutrition. Certain foods can either raise or lower your blood pressure. For example, sugary foods are known to raise blood pressure every discussed, and they also increase inflammation. What else? Trans fats are important. They actually raise your blood pressure and they raise your LDL. They will also lower your HDL, which, you know, high LDL to HDL ratio is definitely detrimental to your heart. And the salt, of course. So stop adding salt or buying processed meats or canned foods or TV dinners. These are all has to go. And take the right supplements. I have compiled some herbs that help with the blood pressure. It's called sugar MD blood pressure support supplement, which you can find a link in the description. But if you want to just simply eat them, just go buy them and eat them and incorporate in your diet if that's also possible. Finally, keep your potassium in your diet by eating lots of vegetables and fruits. Number three, stress relief. Stress causes high blood pressure by affecting the central nervous system. So chronic stress drives the sympathetic nervous system and drives that system into fight or flight condition. This system is super important when exercising and, you know, let's say you're running from something or, but if you activate that all the time, that becomes a problem and there's an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, because parasympathetic nervous system actually relaxes your blood pressure. Also, daily mindfulness or meditation practice, et cetera, will help reduce your stress. So I hope this video was helpful for you to understand and appreciate the harms of blood pressure and accepting that you may actually have a problem and acting on it to monitor your blood pressure at home frequently and make sure you take all the steps necessary that includes your diet, your exercise, your medications, your supplements, whatever it takes to keep your blood pressure at least below 130 over 80. And if your blood pressure is high at some places, but not the others, I would say that is still a problem. I would try to keep my blood pressure as stable as possible, as low as possible, as long as you're not dizzy from taking too much medicine. Guys, thank you for watching this video and please subscribe, share and like and I'll see you in the next video. Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying this channel so far and I hope you subscribed already. If you didn't do it and if you did watch this video right there, I think that will help you too.