You put it all down to the fact that you ain’t getting any younger.
The shortness of breath, almost chronic tiredness, heart palpitations and even feeling faint or dizzy are all just signs of the great change.
Menopause.
It’s why you’re always feeling so hot when everyone else is cool as cucumbers. The chest pain (or angina) are just a sign that you need to slow things down when doing physical activities.
And the swelling (or oedema) in the legs, ankles, feet or tummy? Well, that’s just the lockdown weight gain we’re all still trying to get rid of, right?
Wrong.
All the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension may be easy to dismiss but it’s a deadly disease that, if not diagnosed and managed, can leave you with an ever increasingly poorer quality of life.
Health is the ultimate wealth, goes the adage and it’s never till you see your wellness waning that you realise how vital it is to pay attention to what your body is telling you about any dis-ease it feels.
“Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs (pulmonary arteries),” according to the National Health Service.
“It’s a serious condition that can damage the right side of the heart. The walls of the pulmonary arteries become thick and stiff, and cannot expand as well to allow blood through.”
“The reduced blood flow makes it harder for the right side of the heart to pump blood through the arteries.
Popular businesswoman and reality TV star Shauwn MaMkhize, R&B singer Toni Braxton and Queen of Media Oprah shared what they learned after being diagnosed with high blood pressure.
- SHAUWN MKHIZE: ‘DON’T TAKE YOUR HEALTH FOR GRANTED’
“I went from being well one day, to being bed ridden diagnosed with high blood pressure the next,” businesswoman and reality TV star Shauwn Mkhize shared on Instagram a few months ago.
She said she was feeling better and indeed has been the picture of good health since then, posting pictures of herself attending various functions looking well and happy. The lesson she learnt from the life-threatening experience she says is the importance of taking care of one’s health.
“One word of advice I’d like to share is for us to not take our health for granted and to listen to our bodies,” said MaMkhize.
Read more | Shauwn Mkhize has been battling high blood pressure – here's everything you need to know about the illness
- OPRAH WINFREY: ‘STAY IN A HEALTHY WEIGHT RANGE’
Oprah’s battle with weight has been well-documented but it was a shocker when the then news director of her network, O!, revealed that the Queen of Talk began her last popularised diet before joining Weight Watchers out of fear of death.
“Her heart had begun racing so fast she couldn’t sleep, and it scared her,” Liz Brody told Good Morning America. “She went to a number of doctors and found out that her blood pressure was very high.”
Oprah shed 14kg at the time and did a ‘new me’ cover reveal on O! Magazine, but the weight did not stay down for long. Now she’s made peace with the fact that she can’t be skinny but her near-death experience with high blood pressure taught her to stay in a healthy weight range to put less pressure on her heart.
She won’t allow herself to go above 90kg, she candidly told the New York Times Magazine. “For your heart to pump, pump, pump, pump, it needs the least amount of weight possible to do that,” she said.
“So all of the people who are saying, ‘Oh, I need to accept myself as I am’ – I can’t accept myself if I’m over 200 pounds, because it’s too much work on my heart. It causes high blood pressure for me. It puts me at risk for diabetes, because I have diabetes in my family.”
- TONI BRAXTON: ‘NO MORE BURGERS & PIZZA’
“You can be in your 30s, less than 115 pounds, exercise – and have heart disease.” This was the lesson Toni Braxton shared after she discovered in 2007 that she had high blood pressure – 160/105 without medication.
Increasingly more young people are being diagnosed with hypertension. “You think it’s some older guy, retired,” the singer, who was 40 when she was diagnosed, told Newsweek.
The Unbreak My Heart singer has been battling a number of diseases, including lupus, and she revealed her hypertension diagnosis to People magazine after she became an ambassador for a heart health organisation. “When I found out I was disappointed. I didn't get it,” Toni said at the time.
“But I soon learnt I had to make lifestyle changes.” One of those changes was to her diet. “I always ate relatively well, but sometimes I would have pizzas and burgers late at night – I had to change that.”
Read more | How to know if your child is struggling emotionally and needs extra support
Blood pressure is a measure of the force that your heart uses to pump blood around your body.
It is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and is given as two figures:
- Systolic pressure – the pressure when your heart pushes blood out
- Diastolic pressure – the pressure when your heart rests between beats
An ideal blood pressure is considered to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg.
The first number is the systolic pressure and second is the diastolic pressure.
The first ever SA PH patient-centred symposium is to be held in Cape Town on 13 May 2023 Faircape Health in Tokai Estate.
To book a ticket for yourself, a Pulmonary Hypertension patient or carer follow this link.
