MANILA, Philippines?Although medicines are needed by most patients to control their blood pressure (BP), blood sugar or cholesterol levels, the mainstay in the treatment of these risk factors is still strict compliance in practicing simple lifestyle changes.

?Lifestyle changes can help prevent high BP, or control it in those who already have established hypertension,? says Dr. Dante Aquino, secretary of the Philippine Society of Hypertension. High blood pressure is diagnosed when the BP is consistently equal to or higher than 140/90 mmHg.

BP ideally less than 130/80

?In high-risk patients with diabetes, previous heart attack or stroke, chronic kidney disease and multiple risk factors, the BP should be ideally less than 130/80 mmHg,? Dr. Morales advises.

Lifestyle changes are especially important for people who have risk factors that cannot be changed?so-called nonmodifiable risk factors, including family history, gender, race, or age.

?There?s nothing that can be done about these nonmodifiable risk factors but one can influence his other risk factors to prevent hypertension and metabolic disorders such as diabetes and hypercholesterolemia,? explains Dr. Ramon Abarquez Jr., past president of the Philippine Society of Hypertension and one of the recognized pillars of Philippine cardiology.

Lifestyle changes

According to health experts, lifestyle changes include:

1 Maintaining a normal weight, with a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 23, computed by dividing weight in kg by height in meter squared.

2 Reducing sodium in the diet to about 2.3 grams a day, which is about one teaspoon of salt (Salt in cooking is allowed but not table sources of salt; salt substitutes may be used).

3 Exercising that raises the heart rate for at least 30 minutes a day on most, preferably all days of the week (such as brisk walking, jogging, dancing and aerobics).

4 Limiting alcoholic drinks to at most two drinks a day for men, and one drink a day for women.

5 Nonsmoking and avoidance of people who smoke to prevent secondhand smoking.

6 Getting 3,500 mg of potassium in one?s diet every day (obtained by ample servings of fruits and vegetables).

7 Managing stress with enough sleep, recreation, meditation and relaxation techniques.

8 Regular deep, slow breathing. (Having regular sessions of deep slow breaths consisting of deep inhalation and slow exhalation through pursed lips with rate of less than 10 breaths per minute can help lower BP).

Dr. Abarquez, a professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, has coined the acronym SEX-HDL for healthy lifestyle changes. It stands for: Smoking avoidance, Exercise, and Hypertension, Diabetes and Lipid (cholesterol) control.

Dr. Abarquez also recommends a family approach such that the elders in the family inculcate these healthy lifestyle changes in the younger members of the family by example. ?It should be a family affair,? Dr. Abarquez stresses.