HANDLING HYPERTENSION, BEFORE IT HANDLES YOU

Is your blood pressure creeping up? ... Not quite in the high blood pressure range, but not normal, either?
That's prehypertension. And though it's not high blood pressure -- yet -- it may not be as harmless as you thought.
Here's what you need to know about prehypertension, and why you need to nip it in the bud.
First, the numbers:

• Normal blood pressure is below 120/80.
• Prehypertension is blood pressure that ranges from 120-139 for the top number or 80-89 for the bottom number.
• High blood pressure (hypertension) is 140 or higher for the top number, or 90 or higher for the bottom number, or you are taking a blood pressure medication.

The top number is your systolic pressure, which is the force of blood against your arteries as your heart beats. The bottom number is diastolic pressure, which is the pressure on your arteries when your heart relaxes between beats.

Stroke Risk

Having prehypertension may make you more likely to have a stroke, especially in people younger than 65, a recent study shows.
"If you have prehypertension, and you're under 65, it really matters," says researcher and neurosciences professor Bruce Ovbiagele, MD, of the University of California, San Diego. "Most people who get to 65 already have hypertension."
Ovbiagele's team also found that stroke was more likely for people at the upper end of the prehypertensive range. But even if your blood pressure is not that high, it's wise to take action if your blood pressure is heading in the wrong direction.
"No matter what you consider your break point, any increase in blood pressure is generally a bad thing," says Richard Stein, MD, who directs the exercise, nutrition, and cardiovascular program at New York University's Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.
"It's causing the heart muscle to beat against a higher pressure, so [the heart] is becoming thicker," Stein says, adding that high blood pressure is also stressful for the kidneys.

Stealth Threat

Prehypertension, like hypertension, doesn't show signs or symptoms. Many people don't know they have it, and doctors often overlook it.
How do you know if you have it? The only way to know is to check your blood pressure. In otherwise healthy people, elevated systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure on two separate occasions -- taken two or three days apart -- is enough to be diagnosed with high blood pressure. You can take your blood pressure at home with a blood pressure monitor, or use the machine at your local pharmacy or grocery store, if it has one.
If it's consistently within the prehypertension range, tell your doctor so that you can get it under control before it becomes hypertension.

Taking Charge of Your Blood Pressure

The good news is, you can slow the progression to hypertension. Here's what experts recommend:

• Eat healthfully. Consider following the DASH diet, which focuses on eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and less saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol. It also restricts sodium, which can raise blood pressure, and emphasizes foods rich in calcium, potassium, and magnesium, minerals that help lower blood pressure.
• Watch the salt. Although a recent study showed that lowering your salt intake may raise cholesterol and triglycerides, most experts still recommend cutting back on salt. Be on the lookout for sodium in canned, prepared, and processed foods. Avoid sprinkling too much salt on foods. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your intake to 1,500 mg a day.
• Move more. Get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity every day, most days of the week.
• Get to a healthy weight. Extra pounds make prehypertension more likely. Physical activity and healthy eating can help you shed extra weight.
• Limit alcohol. Try to drink no more than two drinks a day if you're a man or no more than one if you're a woman. If you don't drink, don't start.
• Curb stress. It's unclear whether chronic stress, by itself, can raise your blood pressure in the long run. But it can make you more likely to overeat and to skip exercise, Stein says. So try to change your circumstances, or at least how you deal with them, by practicing stress reduction techniques such as meditation.
• Check your blood pressure. If you can, buy a home monitor, and take your blood pressure twice day: once in the morning and once at night, Stein says. "One very high reading is concerning, but one alone isn't enough," he says. "You want to see how it changes over time."

Source: WebMD

LACTOSE: HOW MUCH CAN YOU TAKE?

If your doctor has just broken the news that you’re lactose-intolerant, don’t jump to the conclusion that you’ll never be able to savor another bite of ice cream again.
At first, many people fear that they’ll have to give up all dairy products. But with some experimentation, most people with lactose intolerance discover that they can eat small amounts of dairy without triggering distressing symptoms, such as bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea or nausea.

Who Gets Lactose Intolerance?

Lactose intolerance occurs when the body doesn’t make enough of the enzyme lactase, which digests lactose, the sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Infants produce high levels of lactase in order to digest milk. After weaning, though, lactase levels decrease, meaning that eventually, as people age, many can no longer digest as much lactose.

Although lactose intolerance is viewed as a disorder, about 75% of all people around the globe have some degree of lactase deficiency. Lactose intolerance is much more common among Asians, Hispanics and blacks than in people of Northwest European descent.
Lactose intolerance is actually a misleading term, says Yuri A. Saito-Loftus, MD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Mayo Clinic’s division of gastroenterology and hepatology.
“The majority of the world population is lactose intolerant. It’s actually the people who are lactose tolerant that are the minority group.”

Find Out How Much You Can Eat

If you’re not sure which foods you can handle, or how much, start experimenting with one dairy food and see how much you can eat without prompting symptoms, Sandquist says. For example, start out by drinking a half-cup of dairy milk and see how well you tolerate it. If milk doesn’t agree with you, try other dairy products that have less lactose. For example, an ounce of American, Swiss, cheddar, or Parmesan cheese has 1 to 2 grams of lactose, compared to 10-12 grams in one cup of milk, she says.
Typically, any discomfort from lactose intolerance arises 30 minutes to two hours after a person eats milk or dairy products. If a food triggers symptoms, you can still try to cut back on amounts to see if you can handle a smaller portion. You can also try a variety of lactose-free dairy options or find a substitute non-dairy product.
Although some people keep a mental tally of foods or amounts to avoid, others might gain better understanding by jotting down notes. “A diary is extremely helpful because then they can log what symptoms they have, what they’ve eaten,” Sandquist says. “They can look back and see if there’s a pattern.”
To reduce symptoms, also try eating dairy products with other foods to slow digestion. “I think that makes a huge difference,” Saito-Loftus says. “If you eat [lactose] with other foods, it mixes and it empties out of your stomach at a slower rate. It’s not like eating ice cream and suddenly, you have all this lactose coming out all at once. If you eat dairy with meat or rice or other such things, it gets mixed in and diluted. It’s easier for your body to tolerate in that context.”


More reading: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/how-much-lactose?src=RSS_PUBLIC