Routes to a healthy heart:
Control your blood pressure

Nine simple ways to reduce your risk of another heart attack: Eat a healthy diet Take more exercise Loose excess weight Stop smoking Drink less alcohol Reduce high blood pressure Reduce high cholesterol levels If diabetic, maintain good control of blood glucose levels Keep taking your prescribed medication

High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) increases your risk of a heart attack. There's excellent evidence that lowering your blood pressure can make a big contribution to reducing your risk of having another heart attack. This can be achieved through a mixture of changes to your diet, exercise and medications.

Ways to help you lower your blood pressure:

• Lose any excess weight
  • Examine your diet and see if changes are needed. It is particularly important to eat less than 6 grams of salt per day (about one teaspoonful). Cut down on foods with a high content of saturated fats and on fatty foods in general.
  • Take more exercise (NOTE: it is important to discuss your exercise plans with your physician or rehabilitation clinic first).
• Make sure you take your prescribed medication. You will probably have been prescribed several drugs for your hypertension and it is important to keep taking them all as directed by your physician.
• If you drink alcohol, try to have no more than one drink per day.
• Consider some of these ways to alleviate stress:
  • relaxation techniques, such as reflexology, yoga or meditation
  • aromatherapy
  • acupuncture.

NOTE:
More information on the drugs you may have been prescribed for your high blood pressure can be found on the web page ‘Drugs for a healthy heart’.

 

A Control your blood pressure

Use the table below to record your medication for your high blood pressure:

Name of drug	Number of tablets to be taken per day

My current blood pressure is:                                     Date:

Four ways to avoid extra salt in your diet:

1. Don’t add salt to your food when it reaches the table. Aim to gradually reduce the amount of salt you use during cooking.
2. Avoid foods that are high in salt (e.g. cooked ham, cottage cheese).
3. Avoid processed foods or foods that contain added salt (e.g. tinned fish and vegetables, salted nuts, tomato sauce, baked beans).
4. Use a salt alternative (but only sparingly).

Use this table to record things you have done this week to reduce your risk of high blood pressure:

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
I have taken a 30-minute walk today
I have been swimming today
I did not add salt at the table
I went to a yoga class