Hypertension Blog

Alcohol

When obtaining your patient’s health history, ask him how much alcohol he drinks. If appropriate, advise him to reduce his intake to less than 1 ounce per day.

The exact mechanism by which alcohol raises blood pressure isn’t known, but alcohol may increase renin or aldosterone release. Chronic alcohol abuse

can also increase blood cortisol levels, which can aggravate hypertension.

Alcohol consumption also affects weight reduction. Alcohol provides empty calories. Plus, one or two drinks a day can slow a person’s metabolism by as much as 25%. Drinking three or more alcoholic drinks a day also increases a person’s risk of hypertension.

Caffeine

By constricting the peripheral blood vessels, caffeine increases the heart rate and blood pressure. Therefore, you should encourage your hypertensive patient to reduce his intake of caffeinated beverages. Tell him that most drinks such as coffee, tea, and soda are now available in caffeine-free preparations. Also, teach him that many other products contain caffeine, including foods such as chocolate and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs used for the treatment of headaches.

Sodium

You should advise your patient to limit his sodium intake, especially if he’s sodium sensitive. Restricting sodium intake may reduce extracellular fluid and total circulating blood volume, thus decreasing the heart’s workload.

Sodium may interfere with the effectiveness of certain antihypertensive drugs. Thus, by limiting his sodium intake, the patient may be able to control his blood pressure with lower doses of antihypertensive drugs. And by using lower dosages, he will have less risk of developing adverse effects from the drugs.

Usually, sodium is restricted to 2 grams of sodium or 5 grams of salt per day. A patient can achieve this restriction by not adding table salt to food and by avoiding foods that are high in sodium.