Here we offer 8 tips to help prevent high blood pressure, or reduce your blood pressure if it’s already a problem.

Are you overweight? Lose weight.

Maintaining a healthy weight (see your doctor about this) will help prevent high blood pressure.

Getting back to a healthy weight is not as hard as it sounds. You can start by limiting the portion size of your meals and snacks, and cut way back on high calorie foods.

If you eat as many calories as you burn each day, you’ll maintain your weight. Eating fewer calories than you burn will help you lose weight. And losing weight will help lower your blood pressure.

When you plan meals, think of your heart.

Choose a diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables. Keep total fat low and avoid foods that are high in saturated fats and cholesterol.
Having a healthy heart will help prevent blood pressure.

Eat less salt and sodium.

Salt and sodium can increase blood pressure, so it’s important to read food labels. Guidelines suggest limiting sodium intake to no more than 2,400 mg, or about 1 teaspoon of salt each day.
If you eat canned, processed, and convenience foods, buy the brands that are lower in sodium.

If you salt your food at the table, try using less, or none. It may take a little while to get used to the new flavors, but you may find that food tastes better when you use less salt.

Fast food can contain a lot of sodium, so if you eat fast food choose items that are lower in salt and sodium. Reducing your salt intake will help to prevent high blood pressure.

If you drink alcohol, practice moderation.

Guidelines recommend that men have no more than 2 drinks per day, and women have no more than one alcoholic beverage per day.

Increase your physical activity.

Exercise is a key factor in preventing high blood pressure.
If you get very little exercise now, start slowly and work your way up to at least 30 minutes of a moderate-level activity, such as brisk walking or bicycling, each day. If time is a factor, you’ll still benefit by breaking the 30 minute daily exercise periods into 10 or 15 minute sessions.
Stop smoking.

Research shows that smoking increases your chances of developing a heart disease, stroke, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and several forms of cancer.

Talk with your doctor or health care professional.

Learn what your blood pressure reading means to your health, and if medication is recommended for you to treat or prevent high blood pressure.

If your doctor prescribes medication, take it.

It’s important to understand:

what your blood pressure medication is expected to do for you

how to take your medication, and when

if your blood pressure medication has any side effects

if the blood pressure medication is safe to take with any other prescriptions or vitamins you are already taking
If you have high blood pressure and treatment is prescribed, don’t be afraid to ask questions or get another medical opinion. Once you understand why you’re taking the medication, follow the recommended dose.

But the best way to treat high blood pressure is to prevent high blood pressure from becoming a problem. These tips, plus advice from your health care provider, can help you keep your blood pressure at a healthy level.

Most drugs used to treat depression work by increasing the amount of serotonin or dopamine available in the body. These chemicals regulate how cells within the brain talk to one another, and also help coordinate interactions between different brain regions. Low levels of serotonin and dopamine have been linked to alterations in mood, and antidepressant drugs are designed to increase the available amount of these chemicals.

Serotonin and dopamine, however, play important roles in many parts of the body outside the brain, and antidepressant drugs are increasingly used to treat a variety of conditions such as chronic pain. Both of these compounds are known to affect the heart and blood vessels. In concentrated doses, dopamine is used as an emergency drug to support (increase) blood pressure during surgery and when certain conditions –- such as body wide infection –- lead to low blood pressure beyond the body’s ability to correct. To a lesser extent, serotonin has similar blood-pressure-raising effects and may increase how sensitive the heart and vessels are to effects of dopamine.

While antidepressants don’t increase serotonin and dopamine to extreme levels, their use has been known to raise blood pressure. Specific antidepressants that have been linked to increased blood pressure include:

• Buproprion (Wellbutrin, Zyban)
• Venlafaxine (Effexor)
• Phenelzine (Nardil)

Increased levels of serotonin and dopamine play an important role in how these drugs raise blood pressure, but there is probably more to the story, and the precise mechanisms are still a matter of some debate. Current thinking is that these drugs increase overall activity in the nervous system, which might amplify certain signals (such as those controlling blood pressure) that the nervous system sends to the rest of the body.

If you have high blood pressure, you can still use antidepressant medications. Your doctor may choose to avoid certain types of antidepressants, and will likely want to monitor your blood pressure carefully during the initial stages of treatment. Many people with high blood pressure are able to use the most common antidepressants with no problems, but some may require adjustments to their high blood pressure treatment program.