MANILA, Philippines - Check your weight, eat green, exercise, and cut salt intake,” advises Philippine Hypertension Society president Dr Abdias Aquino. High blood pressure is a global epidemic, with over 1.5 billion people affected by the chronic medical problem worldwide. Hypertension can lead to stroke, heart failure, aneurysm, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, and certain forms of cancer. Owing to the fact that hypertension has no specific symptoms, it is a treacherous condition that has been called the “silent killer,” as it causes damage to vital organs.
High blood pressure results when blood volume increases or blood vessels constrict so that the heart is forced to pump harder to be able to supply nutrients and oxygen to every cell in the body. The so-called “magic number” or simple cut-off value for high blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg. Since early detection of hypertension leads to early treatment, it would be prudent to be conscious that your blood pressure (BP) readings remain normal at less than or equal to 120/80 mmHg.
Breakthrough drugs for controlling hypertension are readily available, but lifestyle modification remains crucial to achieving and maintaining normal blood pressure. Apart from quitting smoking, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products with a reduced content of saturated and total fat is recommended. Intake of alcoholic drinks should be limited to not more than two drinks (1 oz. or 30 ml. ethanol) per day, or one drink for women and people with lower weight; reducing dietary sodium intake to no more than 100meq/L or 2.4 grams sodium or 6 grams of sodium chloride per day has been shown to lower BP by 2-8 mmHg.
However, significant lowering of BP can be achieved by weight reduction. BP reduction of 5 to 20 mmHg is achieved per 10 kilograms of weight loss. And undoubtedly, aerobic physical activity is a good way to reduce weight and improve blood pressure levels.
In line with the 2010 World Hypertension Day (WHD) theme “Healthy Weight, Healthy Blood Pressure,” Novartis Healthcare Philippines and the Philippine Society of Hypertension (PSH), in cooperation with the Philippine Heart Association (PHA), Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN), and the Department of Health (DOH), launched a Dancexercise contest to promote a healthy, physically active lifestyle among Filipinos. With the substantial prizes for winners, exercise is not only healthy, it can be monetarily profitable, too.
The Healthy Weight Dancexercise contest has four categories: Seniors (60 years old and above), Midlifers (35-59 years old), and Young Adults (18-34 years old). A dancexercise group can consist of one person to a maximum of six members.
Participants must choreograph their own dance exercise routine (maximum length of three minutes) following the theme “Healthy Weight, Healthy Blood Pressure.” They must videotape their dance exercise routine and submit the video entry by either e-mailing the video file to dancexercise.whd@gmail.com via ‘yousendit’ (log on to www.yousendit.com) or sending (via courier) the video CD/DVD of their dance exercise routine to Novartis Healthcare Philippines, Asian Reinsurance Building, Legaspi corner Salcedo Streets, Legaspi Village, Makati City. Deadline for submission of video entries is June 18.
A board of judges composed of medical and dance exercise experts will determine the top three winners in each category. Winners will be notified via e-mail and featured in a TV program. Cash prizes will be awarded per category, as follows: first prize — P50,000; second prize — P30,000; third prize — P15,000.00.
For complete contest rules, log on to www.novartis.com.ph. Go to Facebook to discover more about the Healthy Weight Dancexercise contest or visit Healthy Weight Dancexercise contest Twitter page: http://twitter.com/DancexerciseWHD.