Anti-aging and High Blood Pressure Control Improves Longevity

We need blood pressure to distribute our life-giving, nourishing blood throughout our bodies.

Our heart is our master pump of blood. When our heart contracts and pushes the blood along, the blood pressure measured at that moment is the systolic or top number of pressure. When our heart muscle is relaxed, that resting pressure is called the diastolic pressure.

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, which is the force that the blood pushes against the walls of our arteries that transport blood around the body. Our veins are the collecting tubes that gather up the distributed blood and return it to our lungs to fill up with fresh oxygen each time. The walls of our arteries have actual muscles in the walls and can change the size of the tube or lumen of the artery.

This is a very important feature as the need for blood flow changes with temperature, stress, standing, sitting or laying down. In a sedentary lifestyle the arteries are not expanding or contracting as they would if one were to be active and exercise or work. This leads to hardening of the arteries. Plaques from high cholesterol harden on the artery walls, aggravating then stiffening and narrowing the artery tube size that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

High blood pressure can cause kidney problems, heart failure, eye problems, aneurysms to rupture, and memory and brain problems and exacerbate dementia in addition to increasing risk for heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure is called the silent killer as its damage appears suddenly and reduces health span and life span.

Oftentimes people go to a quick 15-minute doctor’s appointment and are prescribed a pill to reduce blood pressure. If you see an anti-aging or integrative medicine specialist, they will address your diet, lifestyle, family history, genetics, vitamins and supplements and do extensive blood work, which may include 150 biomarkers.

Blood pressure can be affected if you are hyperthyroid or have hormone imbalances, or by salt intake. In future articles we will explore more factors involved in slowing aging and improving quality of life. Meanwhile, think positive and test negative.

Dr. Magdalena Swierczewski, MD is board certified in internal medicine and specializes in anti-aging and integrative medicine. Dr. Peter Michalos, MD is a clinical professor at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and chairman of the Hamptons Health Society.