High blood pressure can adversely affect your organs, especially your heart and your kidneys – and it can rob you of years of life. Even if you’re a woman, you have just as great a risk of developing high blood pressure as a man does.

You can’t change some things when it comes to improving your odds against getting hypertension. Some women get high blood pressure as they age, but you can’t roll back the clock and become younger.

You also can’t change your genetic markers. If you have a history of hypertension in family members due to hereditary factors, you can’t change that. But there are five things you can do to lower your blood pressure.

First, you should have healthy habits in place. Eating healthy can lower your blood pressure. Your diet should consist of natural foods like fruits and vegetables and lean meats that are healthier for you.

Some foods can contribute to high blood pressure. Processed foods, red meats, and foods high in sugar can lead to high blood pressure. Having too many salty foods and adding a lot of salt to your diet can cause elevated blood pressure. Eating the wrong kinds of food can lead to unwanted weight gain, which in turn can also cause high blood pressure. Continue reading →

Heart disease kills more women than breast cancer does, but women seem more frightened about their breast cancer odds.

One of the commonly shared myths about heart attacks, heart disease, strokes and other heart health problems is that it’s not as widespread among women as it is men.

It’s a myth that women don’t have the same (if not more) risks than a man does when it comes to the heart. It’s also a myth that a heart attack can’t happen to a woman at any age.

Although you can have a heart attack or heart disease without any signs or abnormal lab tests, what you need to know is that as a woman, there are certain risk factors that can target your heart. These factors can cause you to end up with heart disease or damage to your heart from a heart attack.

Maintaining a normal blood pressure is as important for a woman’s heart as it for a man’s heart. High blood pressure is a sign that your heart is working too hard.

Watching your cholesterol level helps protect your heart. Being proactive, if you don’t have good cholesterol lab results, can help you keep your heart healthier. It’s as important to have good HDL levels as it is to have low LDL levels. Continue reading →