Can I prevent or improve high blood pressure with lifestyle changes?
Yes. Making changes that help prevent high blood pressure is valuable for anyone, because high blood pressure can greatly increase the risk of various serious diseases, particularly diseases of the blood vessels, such as heart disease and stroke. If you already have risk factors that raise your risk, such as an elevated cholesterol level, diabetes or having parents or brothers and sisters with heart disease, strokes or other blood-vessel diseases, it is especially important for you to try to prevent high blood pressure.Sometimes lifestyle changes alone can bring blood pressure down to normal. If your blood pressure is not dangerously high, try lifestyle changes first. If the changes work, you need to continue them. You also need to have your blood pressure measured regularly, to be sure that it remains normal. Learn about lifestyle changes.
