5 Tips of Hypertension Lifestyle Management

Q: Apart from medication, how can I lower my high blood pressure (hypertension)?

Here are some lifestyle changes you can do to reduce your blood pressure. Such as Alcohol Limitation, Body Weight Reduction, Stop Smoking, Diet Change and Exercises.

high blood pressure hypertension management

Based on the 2017 Singapore National Population Health Survey, hypertension affects approximately one in five adults here.

What is high blood pressure (hypertension)?

High blood pressure occurs when the force of blood pushing against our blood vessel walls is consistently high. It is often called the “silent killer” because one may not be aware that anything is wrong, but the damage is occurring within the body. It is generally defined as a blood pressure that is consistently ≥140/90mmHg.

Hypertension / High Blood Pressure Reading: Consistently ≥140/90mmHg

What can happen if high blood pressure is not treated?

Uncontrolled hypertension may lead to serious health problems including stroke, heart attack, peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease, eye damage, and vascular dementia.

Apart from medication, how can I lower my high blood pressure (hypertension)?

Following the ABCDE guidelines, here are some lifestyle changes you can adopt to reduce your blood pressure.

Changes	Recommendation	Expected benefits in systolic BP reduction
Alcohol limitation	MEN <30g/day ethanol (<700mL/day beer, <240mL/day red wine, <75mL/day whiskey or brandy) WOMEN <20g/day ethanol (<470mL/day beer, <160mL/day red wine, <50mL/day whiskey or brandy)	2–4mmHg
Body weight reduction	BMI = 18.5–24.9kg/m2	1mmHg/kg
Cessation of smoking	Stop smoking	No independent effect*
Diet adaptation	DASH diet: rich in fruits and vegetables. (8–10 servings/day), rich in low-fat dairy products (2–3 servings/day), and reduction in saturated fat and cholesterol	10–12mmHg
Exercise adoption	Aerobic, at least 30 minutes/day and at least 5 days/week	3–7mmHg