More Americans are experiencing hypertension, meaning higher blood pressure, due to the covid pandemic. This is based on a pretty impressive study published in the journal Circulation. Why would a pandemic cause people’s blood pressure to run higher? By the end of this video, you’ll have a good understanding of WHY. But if I had to pick one word as the reason, that would be.
Stress Or Anxiety. And this isn’t just an assumption or a theory. Take a look at some of the most searched health topics of 2021, like “why do I feel anxious for no reason” It’s also no wonder why the US surgeon general just warned about the devastating mental health effects that young people are facing, which have been amplified by the covid pandemic. The 53-page report shows the significant increases in self-reports of depression, anxiety, and mental-health-related ER visits.
One significant stat is that ER visits for suicide attempts rose 51% for adolescent girls in early 2021 compared to the same period in 2019, while “the figure rose 4% for boys.
So yeah, stress, anxiety, and depression for several reasons. Loss of loved ones. So far, COVID has taken over 785,000 American lives. Stress from lockdowns that cut social events and strained relationships, Politics, Unemployment.
What happens when people are stressed? More and more stress hormones, especially cortisol, are released from your adrenal glands, and those higher levels circulating in your blood affect the entire body. Too much cortisol raises blood sugar levels, weakens the immune system, and raises blood pressure.
Not only that, but the covid pandemic meant that 1) people weren’t exercising as much 2) people were eating less healthy 3) drinking more alcohol 4) getting less quality sleep 5) weren’t getting as much regular health care, including fewer doctor visits and less adherence to medication regimen
In fact, these very observations led the lead author to conduct this study in the first place. Based on this new study, Almost a half million Americans have a higher blood pressure than the year before. To be more specific, the researchers at Cleveland Clinic found that the blood pressure reading, for the most part, stayed the same from 2019 thru March of 2020 but had a big jump from April 2020 to the end of the study in December 2020.
It’s really two measurements rolled into one when looking at blood pressure; it’s really 2 measurements rolled into one. The top number is the systolic blood pressure, related to the heart squeezing. The bottom number is the diastolic blood pressure, related to heart relaxation. Anyone with a reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher is considered to have high blood pressure.
The average monthly change from April 2020 to December 2020, compared to 1 year before that, was a 1.10 to 2.50 mm Hg increase in systolic pressure. It was an average increase of 0.14 to 0.53 mm Hg for diastolic pressure. These numbers may not seem like a big deal, but it’s actually a significant jump when you have this jump in half a million people. The increases occurred in all of the subgroups. It happened in all ages, in both men and women, although there was a bigger increase in women. Over time, having high blood pressure, even if it’s just a little high, can damage blood vessels, your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes, as well as sexual function.
Almost half of all American adults have high blood pressure, which is often called a “silent killer” because it can have life-threatening consequences, despite it causing little to no symptoms. With more and more people having higher blood pressure, more and more people will have strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney impairment, visual impairment, and erectile dysfunction. So you’re going to have more hospital admissions for these conditions, but guess what disease is still filling up some hospitals to the brink, COVID.
Fortunately, high blood pressure is relatively easy to diagnose and treat. In many cases, blood pressure can be adequately lowered without medication simply by eating healthier, exercising more, and practicing stress reduction techniques. This would include things like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. One of the main dietary changes you can make to lower blood pressure would entail eating more potassium and less salt. Take a look at this study published in the NEJM, which had about 400 people. Half of them followed a typical American diet, and the other half followed the DASH diet for three months.
The conclusion? Those who eat a low-sodium DASH diet can prevent or even reverse the typical rise in blood pressure that occurs as people get older.
Content
0 -> more americans are experiencing hypertension
meaning high blood pressure as a result of the
4.16 -> pandemic this is based on a pretty impressive
study that was just published in the journal
8.4 -> called circulation now why would a pandemic
cause people's blood pressure to run higher
13.92 -> well by the end of this video you'll have a good
understanding why but if i had to pick one word
18.48 -> as the reason it would be stress or anxiety but
this isn't just an assumption or a theory take a
25.28 -> look at some of the most searched health topics of
2021 like why do i feel anxious for no reason it's
31.36 -> also no wonder why the u.s surgeon general just
warned about the devastating mental health effects
36.8 -> that young people are facing which have been
amplified by the pandemic the 53-page report
42.64 -> shows the significant increases in self-reports
of depression anxiety and mental health-related
48.16 -> er visits one significant stat is that er visits
for suicide attempts rose 51% for adolescent girls
55.44 -> in early 2021 as compared to the same period
in 2019 while the figure rose 4%
61.52 -> for boys so yeah stress anxiety depression for a
number of reasons so far covid has taken over 785000
69.76 -> american lives stress from lockdowns that
cut social events and strained relationships
76 -> politics unemployment and what happens when people
are stressed for a long time more and more of the
81.44 -> hormone cortisol is released from the adrenal
glands in the body it circulates into the blood
86.48 -> and affects the entire body too much cortisol in
the body over a long period of time does lots of
91.12 -> bad things one of those things is it raises blood
sugar another thing is that it weakens the immune
96.08 -> system and yes it does also raise the blood
pressure yes the pandemic it raised people's
101.68 -> stress levels but what did it also do people
weren't exercising as much people were eating less
107.12 -> healthy they were drinking more alcohol getting
less quality sleep and they weren't getting as
112.08 -> much regular health care including less doctor
visits and less adherence to medication regimen
118.32 -> in fact it was these exact observations that led
the lead author of the study to do the study in
124.08 -> the first place based on the study almost half
a million americans have higher blood pressure
128.96 -> compared to the year before to be more specific
the researchers at cleveland clinic found that
134.08 -> the blood pressure reading for the most part
stayed the same from 2019 through march of 2020
140.16 -> but had a big jump from april 2020 to the end
of the study in december of 2020. when looking
145.92 -> at blood pressure it's really two measurements
rolled into one the top number is the systolic
150.96 -> pressure related to the heart squeezing the bottom
number is the diastolic pressure related to the
156 -> heart relaxing anyone with a blood pressure of
130 over 80 millimeters mercury or higher is
161.68 -> considered to have high blood pressure the average
monthly change from april 2020 to december 2020
167.68 -> compared to one year prior to that was a 1.1
to 2.5 millimeter mercury increase in systolic
174.16 -> pressure for diastolic pressure it was an average
increase of 0.14 to 0.53 millimeters mercury
181.44 -> these numbers might not seem like they're a
big deal but when you have this jump in half
185.6 -> a million people it's actually considered
to be a significant jump the increases
190.32 -> occurred in all of the subgroups it occurred in
all ages and both men and women although it was
195.76 -> a bigger increase in women over time having high
blood pressure even if it's just a little high
200.64 -> can damage blood vessels your heart brain
kidneys and eyes as well as sexual function
207.52 -> almost half of american adults have high blood
pressure which is also known as the silent killer
213.68 -> because it can have life-threatening consequences
despite there being little to no symptoms with
219.04 -> more and more people having higher blood pressure
that means more and more people will have strokes
224.08 -> heart attacks heart failure kidney impairment
visual impairment and erectile dysfunction so with
230.08 -> more and more people having these conditions it's
going to lead to more hospital emissions and guess
235.44 -> what disease is already causing some hospitals
to be filled to the brink covid fortunately high
241.6 -> blood pressure is relatively easy to diagnose
and treat in many cases blood pressure can be
246.48 -> adequately lowered without medication simply by
eating healthier exercising more and practicing
252.72 -> stress reduction techniques this would include
things like yoga meditation and mindfulness one
258.16 -> of the main dietary changes you can make in order
to lower blood pressure would entail eating more
263.44 -> potassium and less salt take a look at this study
that was published in the new england journal
267.76 -> medicine which had about 400 people in it half of
them followed the typical american diet which was
273.12 -> the control group and the other half following
the dash diet for three months the conclusion
278.56 -> those who ate a low sodium dash diet can prevent
or even reverse the typical rise in blood pressure
284 -> that occurs as people get older thousands
of years ago during the paleolithic period
289.04 -> our ancestors survived by eating an entirely
different kind of diet pretty much the opposite of
294.16 -> what we eat today they feasted on wild animals and
a variety of plants fruits vegetables nuts seeds
301.28 -> roots and even lives but this paleolithic diet
was high in potassium and low in sodium today's
307.2 -> typical american diet is packed with processed
foods full of white flour fat salt sugar as
313.52 -> well as meat and dairy products with only a small
percentage of fruits and vegetables more than 40%
319.12 -> of the sodium that americans consume today
comes from just 10 types of food the 10 biggest
324.64 -> culprits are breads and rolls pizza sandwiches
cold cuts and cured meats soups burritos and
330.72 -> tacos so-called savory snacks like chips and
pretzels chicken cheese and eggs and omelets
337.04 -> so eating less of this type of food and more of
the healthy foods exercising 150 minutes per week
342.8 -> doing stress reduction techniques so mindfulness
meditation yoga and also getting good sleep high
348.4 -> quality sleep these are the main ways of ridding
yourself of the silent killer without medication
