Family history plays an important role in your risk of developing heart disease, but is high blood pressure hereditary? Find out how it affects your health.
If you have a blood relative (mother, father, sister, brother) that developed hypertension before age 60, you have family history. In addition, the more family members you have with hypertension, the stronger your high blood pressure family history becomes.
High blood pressure (hypertension) runs in families partly because blood relatives share the same predisposing genes that lead to hypertension. Moreover, family members also tend to share some of the same lifestyle habits that increase the risk of hypertension.
How Family History Affects You
There are many risk factors that affect your chances of developing high blood pressure – and family history is one of them. In fact, if you have family history of hypertension, you’re twice as likely to develop the condition.
While this doesn’t mean you will develop high blood pressure, it does increase your chances, so it’s important to know. Furthermore, a family history of high blood pressure can also affect other risk factors such as high cholesterol and more.
However, family history isn’t a death sentence; by making lifestyle changes you can decrease the risk of developing hypertension. For example, you can eat healthy foods, use less salt, exercise regularly, lose weight, and stop smoking if necessary.
It’s also important that you check your blood pressure once a year to make sure it’s within the normal range. If it isn’t, talk to your doctor and make a treatment plan that meets your needs; medications may be necessary.
Learn About Your Family History
One thing you can do to learn about your family health history is by filling out a Family Health History Worksheet. Afterward, you can take this information to your doctor so they can better understand your risk for certain health conditions.
In addition to their relation and condition, find out when they developed these diseases and if they died from them. Make sure you update the worksheet as necessary and let your doctor know of any changes so they can help.
High blood pressure is generally a life-long condition, so it’s important that you follow your doctor’s recommendations to manage hypertension. They will usually suggest lifestyle changes such as following the DASH diet and will prescribe medication if necessary.
There are various medications that treat high blood pressure, so it may take a bit to find out which one fits your needs the best. However, it’s important that you follow your plan, as hypertension usually has no symptoms and may affect you without you knowing.
The Outlook
While family history does play a factor in developing high blood pressure, it is not the only one. By making certain lifestyle changes, you can decrease the risk of hypertension and may not develop it at all.
In addition to exercising and eating healthy, you can take daily supplements like L-arginine Plus to boost your circulation. As a result, you may experience lower blood pressure, higher energy levels, and better heart health overall.
Try L-arginine Plus along with these other healthy tips if you want to give your heart health the support it needs.