Hypertension is a amongst the most dreaded chronic diseases in the world today. Other chronic diseases include heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and many others. Hypertension also commonly known as high blood pressure is particularly a matter of concern as it is a risk factor for many other diseases. In particular high blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke and heart attack.
Hypertension has been associated with a variety of other conditions and the foods that we eat.
For example, there has been debate on the association between caffeine and high blood pressure. In recent times doctors have identified an important link between restless legs syndrome and high blood pressure.
By way of background, RLS as it is known is short is a neurologic disorder that causes a strong desire to move your legs. Patients typically feel strange and unpleasant feelings in the legs. The feels as creeping, crawling, itching, tingling, burning, aching or electric shocks.
In a study supported by the National Institute Of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the United States doctors linked RLS to hypertension in women of middle age. According to this study, middle-aged women who suffer from RLS have as much as a 41% risk of suffering from high blood pressure compared to women without the disorder. The study also noted that RLS sufferers who are women have a 20% higher prevalence of hypertension.
These findings point to an important potential contributor of increasing prevalence of high blood pressure in America. This essentially means focusing on the causes of hypertension is not only do to with not knowing how to eat healthy but also other association with different conditions and diseases.
As to what actually leads to hypertension in RLS patients, doctors believe it has to with limb movement which has been the case in 80% of patients. Further it is also believed that hypertension may also mediate the association between RLS and cardiovascular disease. The fact that there is a growing population in the United States makes the association between RLS and hypertension of great importance.
It has been observed that the disorder occurs in adults before the age of 45 when its likely to be severe as well as those over the age of 45. The actual number of people suffering from this disorder runs into thousands upon thousands in America. This is further in the context that most of the cases used in the study are self reported leaving a very huge group of those who might suffer from the disorder and not know what it is.
Hypertension can be controlled by eating healthy particularly lots if fruits and veggies. This is what is generally recommended by doctors over and above keeping an active lifestyle. Other lifestyle changes to be implemented should include stopping smoking.