Bewildered

[Vanclomp]

Recently diagnosed with hypertension and I’m wondering if this has been caused by anxiety and stress. I also have a raised pulse can this be the cause?

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Unfortunately you say very little about yourself. Yes stress/anxiety can caused raised BP but so can a lack of fitness, poor diet, being overweight/obese, etc.

If you have not seen it this BHF link contains some useful information:.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[Vanclomp in reply to MichaelJH]

Thanks for that will do. I’m not overweight, don’t smoke and drink very little alcohol, enjoy walking and cycling I’m 74 years old. Best wishes

[sos007]

Anxiety and Stress can absolutely cause elevated blood pressure. This is partially due to increased levels of the hormone cortisol during stressful periods. Cortisol increases blood sugar levels which then begin the cascade of inflammatory damage to the endothelium (inner lining of your blood vessels) and the body's immune responses that result in plaque accumulation.

Check out this link:

sciencemag.org/news/2014/06...

and this:

webmd.com/diabetes/qa/can-s...

The key now is to find a way to eliminate the stressful trigger in your life, or alternatively, learn how to cope with it better.

Daily exercise along with a healthy diet such as the Meditteranean Diet can help your body and mind better cope with both mental and physiological stress:

mayoclinic.org/healthy-life...

Meditation and mindfulness are also effective mechanisms for dealing with stress:

positivepsychology.com/mind...

Good luck.

[Vanclomp in reply to sos007]

Many thanks for that you have been very helpful. Some very useful information. Best wishes.

[sos007 in reply to Vanclomp]

My pleasure!

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to sos007]

Glad to hear you get the mat out too and meditate sos007.

Another useful free app of meditations is Insight Timer

insighttimer.com/

[sos007 in reply to Milkfairy]

Thank you for the link.