1. Cut Cigarettes, Alcohol and Drugs
Doctors will always encourage those with hypertensive heart disease to stop smoking immediately. Current statistics classify 30 percent of all heart disease related deaths as a result of smoking. Smoking increases your blood pressure, reduces the oxygen in your bloodstream and thereby increases your heart rate to compensate for the reduction. Alcohol, in small doses (a glass of red wine a day, for example) can be beneficial to those with heart disease, but the abuse of alcohol almost always leads to dramatic heart related complications. If you have more than one drink per day, your doctor will encourage you to either stop drinking or drink responsibly. Illicit drugs should always be avoided, not just because of the danger of heart related diseases, but because the danger of death from overdose or disease as a result of shared needles adds even more potential risks to your lifestyle. Removing these vices from your life is commonly the first step in any treatment plan.
2. Use the DASH Diet
DASH, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is a diet plan designed to help treat hypertension. DASH dieting recommends eating far more fruits, vegetables and reduced fat dairy on a daily basis. Reducing your intake of fat, saturated fat and cholesterol is also beneficial. Additional foods recommended to treat hypertensive heart disease include nuts, whole grains, fish and poultry. It is also recommended that patients treating hypertensive heart disease reduce their intake of red meat. Magnesium, potassium and calcium are also important nutrients that can be used to naturally reduce your hypertensive heart disease symptoms.
3. Take Prescription Medication
There are numerous medications that can be used to treat hypertensive heart disease. Beta-blockers like Sectral and Tenormin, for example, reduce the amount of blood and oxygen your heart needs to function, thereby reducing the general stress placed on it during the day. Calcium channel blockers like Procardia XL and Plendil reduce blood pressure and the stress on your cardiovascular system by reducing the speed at which calcium is absorbed into your heart and blood vessels. Diuretics like Esidrix and Lasix reduce the excess salt and water in your system by passing it into your urine. The reduction in salt and water in your system will also reduce your blood pressure and the stress placed on your heart, as it is not required to move as great a volume of fluid.
4. Get a Pet
Believe it or not, studies have shown that people who own pets are generally less stressed than those without. Blood pressure and anxiety levels were also decreased compared to people without pets. Research has focused mainly on dogs and cats, but other pets are believed to share the same effectiveness.
