High Blood Pressure
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Paul D. Orr, MD
Family Practice located in Claremont, CA
Nearly one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, but only half of that number have it under control. Dr. Paul Orr works with you to find an effective treatment approach to help you manage high blood pressure. A variety of medications and lifestyle modifications are available to restore normal blood pressure levels. To learn about high blood pressure treatment options, contact Paul D. Orr, M.D. in Claremont, California, online or over the phone.
High Blood Pressure Q & A
What’s high blood pressure?
High blood pressure, or hypertension, causes your blood to push with extra force against your artery walls. Hypertension usually doesn’t cause any noticeable symptoms, so it often goes undetected.
Dr. Orr can detect high blood pressure with a simple reading from a blood pressure cuff. A staff member takes a blood pressure reading at nearly every appointment with Dr. Orr, so it’s important to see him at least once a year for early detection.
Blood pressure readings over 120/80 are considered elevated, and multiple readings over 140/90 indicate hypertension.
What problems does hypertension cause?
High blood pressure indicates that your blood consistently creates too much pressure in your arteries. Over time, this pressure causes damage to the blood vessels.
Cholesterol in your bloodstream collects in these damaged areas, creating plaque buildup. Plaque narrows the blood vessels, leading to atherosclerosis, which causes your blood to press even harder against the artery walls.
As high blood pressure causes increasingly more damage to the heart and blood vessels, the condition can lead to a number of other problems, including:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Heart arrhythmia
- Kidney failure
- Vision loss
How can I lower my risk of developing hypertension?
You can do a lot on your own to reduce your blood pressure. Since your diet, weight, stress levels, smoking habits, and alcohol consumption contribute to high blood pressure, you can make healthy lifestyle changes to combat those factors.
Dr. Orr recommends the following strategies to reduce your risk of hypertension:
- Reduce the amount of salt in your diet
- Follow a heart-healthy DASH diet
- Implement a regular exercise routine
- Lose excess weight
- Limit alcohol consumption
- Stop smoking
- Use stress management techniques
Make sure to see Dr. Orr for your routine visits for blood pressure checks so you know exactly where it stands.
How do you treat hypertension?
Dr. Orr recommends multiple strategies to lower your blood pressure, including the healthy lifestyle modifications listed above. He can provide further diet and exercise guidance to support those changes.
If your personal efforts don’t work, Dr. Orr may prescribe blood pressure medications to bring it back to a healthy range. Some of the most common medications for blood pressure include diuretics, beta blockers, and ACE inhibitors.
If you need help lowering your blood pressure, contact the Claremont, California, office online or over the phone to schedule an appointment with Dr. Orr.
