High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when your arteries are narrow, and your heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout your body. Think of a smaller hose with water pumping through it. The water at the end of the hose will come out with higher pressure when compared to water being pumped through a wide tube where it will just drain out the end. Hypertension is prevalent and can happen simply by genetics or can happen because of poor lifestyle choices. It is estimated that half of America’s population has high blood pressure, so this is a widespread issue.

Most people don’t know that they have high blood pressure because you can’t feel it when it is just moderate. When you have severe high blood pressure, you start to feel the side effects such as bad headaches, nosebleeds, and chest pains. If you think you have extreme high blood pressure, please contact your doctor as you may need to be on medication. You can reduce your risk of high blood pressure by maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly. That can be as simple as going for a 30-minute walk five days a week.