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Hypertension dramatically increases the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, yet 1 in 2 people do not know they have it!
When was the last time you or your parents had your blood pressure checked?
 Learn more about what is hypertension, its consequences and how to easily diagnose it and manage it. It can help you to live longer!
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a style="padding: 14px 40px; background: #B91B12; color: white; width: fit-content; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: bold;" title="What is hypertension" href="https://app-mhp-docker-dev-backend.azurewebsites.net/hypertension">Learn more about Hypertension</a></div>
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Learn more about what is hypertension, its consequences and how to easily diagnose it and manage it.

Awareness campaign #BecauseIsayso #CheckYourPressure

For most office workers, it is not unusual to be stuck at a desk for 7 to 8 hours a day: it&rsquo;s part of everyday life. However, &ldquo;everyday life&rdquo; may not be particularly good for you: sitting at a computer all day leads to backache (due to poor posture), eye strain, and more. It doesn&rsquo;t need to be this way, though. If you&rsquo;re one of these people, here are some simple steps to combat the ill effects of being sedentary.
<ul class="has-list-bullet-color" style="--ek-bullet-color: #00bce0;">
<li>Correct posture: Sit properly: your back should be straight, your shoulders back, and the top of your monitor should be level with your eyes. If you need to move your head up or down, then you need to adjust the height of your screen. Try and type with your wrists off the table, keyboard or mouse mat. Keep your legs bent at the knees so that your knees are level with or only slightly higher than your hips. Feet should be flat on the floor or on a footrest of some kind.</li>
<li>Easy stretching exercises:
<ul>
<li>Neck:&nbsp;to stretch your neck, first slowly flex your head forward and backward, then from side to side, and finally turn your head right and left a few times. This can be done at virtually any moment to lessen tension and strain. Never roll your head around your neck&ndash;&ndash;this can damage neck joints.</li>
<li>Shoulders:&nbsp;to relieve tension in your shoulders, roll your shoulders forward around 10 times, then backward.</li>
<li>Arms and shoulders:&nbsp;brace your hands on the edge your desk, each about a shoulder width away from your body. Twist your hands in so they point toward your body and lean forward, hunching your shoulders. Take this a step further and push your shoulders and elbows closer to the desk.</li>
<li>Wrists:&nbsp;roll your wrists frequently if your hands feel stiff, 10 times clockwise then 10 times anticlockwise.</li>
</ul>
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<li>Taking breaks:&nbsp;stand up regularly and move around to stimulate blood circulation in your arms and legs, which will keep them from getting too tired. Walk to the water distributor; take a short walk outside, and/or use the stairs instead of the elevator. Aside from gently working out your legs and heart, the fresh air and the break will help you relax.</li>
</ul>
Take advantage of downtime when you&rsquo;re unable to work, for whatever reason. Get up and take a short walk. If you have the space and privacy, maybe try a few push-ups or sit-ups. Enough to feel your muscles work, but not enough to break a sweat; the office isn&rsquo;t really the place.
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<li>Other good habits:&nbsp;
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<li>Take a few deep breaths:&nbsp;to work your abdominal muscles, hold your breath for a few seconds when breathing in, then release when exhaling. If possible, get some fresh air from outside, as mentioned previously.</li>
<li>Drink throughout the day:&nbsp;if you do this regularly, you will begin to feel more alert. If you have a water distributor, keep a cup or glass next to you, not a water bottle. Why? This will oblige you to get up and walk to the water distributor for a refill, encouraging you to exercise and stretch.</li>
</ul>
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</ul>

 How to deal with long days in front of your computer

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<li>Get treatment! The aim is to return to a blood pressure level as close to normal as possible.&nbsp;This is crucial, and your life expectancy and quality of life depend on it, even if you don&rsquo;t actually feel ill. In order to do this, inappropriate lifestyle features must be corrected, and often it will be necessary to take medicine for blood pressure &ndash; an antihypertensive drug.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Understand how important it is to treat your hypertension daily We don&rsquo;t yet know how to cure hypertension. All we can do for the moment is temporarily reduce the blood pressure figures with antihypertensive drugs whose action is short-term. Talk to your doctor about the protective effects of these drugs.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Don&rsquo;t forget to take your blood pressure medication To control your blood pressure, it is essential that you take your medicine every day, as prescribed by your doctor.</li>
<li>Always take your medication at the same time In daily life, it is important to get into habits which associate taking your pills with other everyday activities that you perform at the same time daily, such as brushing your teeth, mealtimes, reading the newspaper. This is a very effective way of avoiding forgotten doses. Alerts on your smartphone can also help. This is important to form good habits and also to avoid drops in the level of the medicine in your blood if too much time elapses between pills.</li>
<li>Talk to your doctor about possible side effects Any medicine which is active &ndash; that is, effective &ndash; can have one or more side effects. The great majority of these are benign and disappear without any permanent effects once treatment has stopped. It is important to talk about it with your doctor rather than stop taking your treatment yourself.&nbsp;Your doctor could decide to reduce the dose, or subsitute a different drug.</li>
<li>If your doctor prescribes them, agree to take several antihypertensive drugs, or to change treatments&nbsp; A combination of several drugs may be necessary if the blood pressure does not decrease significantly with a single drug. These days, most patients need several drugs combined in order to be controlled correctly. The fact that two or more drugs can be combined in the same pill means that treatment can be given in a maximum of 1 or 2 pills a day. If you find that there are too many drugs in your prescription, talk about it to your doctor &ndash; he or she may be able to find a way to simplify it.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Adapt your lifestyle to your condition Reduce salt in your diet, do some physical exercise regularly, moderate your alcohol consumption, and keep a careful eye on your weight. These habits will help you to control your blood pressure better. If in addition you can manage your life stress better and stop smoking, this will do an enormous amount of good to your arteries and your health!</li>
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Seven ways to live better with hypertension

If the diagnosis of hypertension (high blood pressure) is correct, and if no temporary or hormonal cause is found for the blood pressure increase, you will probably have to take medicine daily to correct your blood pressure figures for the rest of your life. This will certainly sound complicated, but you will see that most hypertensive patients cope well with this obligation &ndash; it&rsquo;s a bit like having to brush your teeth every day.
Though this treatment usually has to be taken for life, its nature can often change over time, as your doctor will take into account not only your blood pressure figures but also any other conditions you may have which might have an effect on your treatment. In this case your treatment dose might be increased or decreased depending on other factors, which is why it is very important to be followed up regularly by a doctor who knows you well.
In fact, the idea of lifelong treatment can be scary when you haven&rsquo;t understood why you need to take the treatment &ndash; in other words, what the benefits of the treatment are. Treatment for hypertension guarantees an increased life expectancy and slows down the aging of arteries. If you understand this, it will be easier to accept that you need to take your medicine, and lifelong treatment becomes life-giving treatment.

Will I have to take this treatment for the rest of my life ?

The advice given by health professionals about high blood pressure often aims to help you adopt eating habits adapted to your needs: &ldquo;Make sure you reduce your salt intake&rdquo;, or &ldquo;Beware of ready-made meals, they are often very fatty and salty&rdquo;. Only sometimes, it is not so easy to navigate through these foods and apply these rules. Are we talking about salt or sodium? How do I recognize the quality of a product on the shelf? Here are some tips to make your life easier when you go food shopping.
<h2 id="h-what-is-the-difference-between-salt-and-sodium">What is the difference between salt and sodium?</h2>
Salt is considered a food, a condiment or an ingredient and is therefore added to dishes. Of marine origin, it is composed of about 40% sodium and 60% chloride.&nbsp;
Sodium, on the other hand, is a nutrient and belongs to the mineral family. Essential to our body, it must be provided by food because we do not produce it. Many foods contain it naturally, in varying amounts.
People with hypertension are advised to limit their salt intake. In absolute terms, this means monitoring sodium levels. However, with some products the amount of salt is indicated, and with others the amount of sodium.
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&gt;&nbsp;Our tip:&nbsp;to convert the amount of sodium into the amount of salt, simply&nbsp;multiply it by 2.54.
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&gt;&nbsp;Worth knowing:&nbsp;the WHO recommends reducing salt intake to less than 5g per day in order to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
<h2 id="h-what-to-look-for-on-a-nutrition-label">What to look for on a nutrition label</h2>
Food packaging contains a lot of information. To get an idea of the nutritional quality of a food product, we advise you to focus on 2 major criteria:
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<li>The list of ingredients, with 2 points to remember
<ul>
<li>Its length: the shorter it is, the better! A long list of ingredients often indicates a lot of additives or a high degree of processing.</li>
<li>The order of appearance of the ingredients: They are classified in descending order of quantity, i.e. those with the largest quantities appear first.&nbsp;</li>
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<li>The nutritional information table This includes information about the energy and nutrients provided by the food.
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<li>Pay special attention to the amount of salt or sodium. This is particularly important for people with high blood pressure.</li>
<li>For the other items presented, what counts is the purpose of the product. For a sweet product, check the amount of sugar: it is often added sugar. For a savory product, pay more attention to the fat, particularly saturated fatty acids, which you want to limit, especially in a diet designed to improve cardiovascular health.</li>
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The products chosen are therefore important, but don&rsquo;t forget that a quality diet is also based on&nbsp;balance,&nbsp;diversityand&nbsp;pleasure!

How to decipher a nutrition label

High blood pressure is&nbsp;multifactorial: among the factors that influence it are overconsumption of salt, overweight, smoking, age and stress.&nbsp;But did you know that sleep is also a factor?&nbsp;Many studies show how&nbsp;sleep that is too short, of poor quality<a class="ek-link">1</a>&nbsp;or disrupted by conditions such as sleep apnea<a class="ek-link">2</a>&nbsp;will contribute to hypertension.&nbsp;
Here are some pointers to help you understand why it is important to get a good night&rsquo;s sleep, but also how.
<h2 id="h-what-is-the-relationship-between-blood-pressure-and-sleep">What is the relationship between blood pressure and sleep?</h2>
It is important to be aware that your&nbsp;blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day&nbsp;depending on the level of effort you make, but also on the emotions or stress you feel. It also varies at night: sleep is a crucial phase as it&nbsp;puts your body to rest. This is very important for all your vital functions and in particular for your cardiovascular system:&nbsp;during the night, your heart rate and blood pressure decrease by 10 to 20%&nbsp;compared to the daytime.<a class="ek-link">3</a>&nbsp;Therefore, poor-quality sleep adversely affects your cardiovascular health.
<h2 id="h-how-to-make-sure-you-sleep-better">How to make sure you sleep better</h2>
Epidemiological data shows that our sleeping time is&nbsp;getting shorter and shorter, falling below 7 hours. But optimally,&nbsp;an adult aged 18 to 64 will need 7 to 9 hours of sleep&nbsp;while a child aged 3 to 5 will need 10 to 13 hours.4&nbsp;In addition, the quality of sleep can be affected by difficulty falling asleep or by waking up at night, which can&nbsp;reduce the beneficial effects of a good night&rsquo;s sleep.&nbsp;
Modern lifestyles, personal rhythms and worries, staggered schedules&hellip; Numerous factors can come into play. However, there are a few simple rules to help you get a good night&rsquo;s sleep:&nbsp;
<ul class="has-list-bullet-color">
<li>Respect your own sleep rhythm: identify whether you are more of a morning or an evening person, and go to bed when you&rsquo;re ready. It is also important to be aware of the first signs of fatigue: eyes stinging, yawning, drooping eyelids. Don&rsquo;t fight it.</li>
<li>Maintain as regular a sleep schedule as possible, both at bedtime and when you get up.</li>
<li>Create a conducive environment: quiet, in a well-ventilated room and at a temperature between 18 and 20&deg;C.</li>
<li>Avoid taxing physical or intellectual activities&nbsp;in the evening.</li>
<li>Avoid stimulants&nbsp;(tea, coffee, soda, alcohol, cigarettes) and&nbsp;heavy meals&nbsp;in the evening.</li>
<li>Get into relaxing mode before going to sleep: hot drinks (stimulant-free, such as infusions), reading, relaxation techniques&hellip; All these factors help to create good sleeping habits.</li>
<li>Help is available:&nbsp;first of all, discuss it with your doctor or a pharmacist. Next, mobile applications can also help you analyze your sleep patterns by monitoring your sleep cycles, sleeping time and bedtimes, and can give you advice on your sleeping environment, etc.</li>
</ul>

Living with Hypertension

Find out more about hypertension here. This section has been designed to help you better understand your hypertension and its daily management.

Tips for living well with hypertension

Awareness campaign #BecauseIsayso #CheckYourPressure

How to deal with long days in front of your computer

Seven ways to live better with hypertension

Will I have to take this treatment for the rest of my life ?

How to decipher a nutrition label

Hypertensives: get a good night’s sleep