Читать книгу PCOS Diet Book: How you can use the nutritional approach to deal with polycystic ovary syndrome - Theresa Cheung - Страница 54

Salt causes fluid retention and can raise blood pressure. Women with PCOS are four times more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than age- and weight-matched controls.⁴

Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood on the inner walls of the blood vessels. A blood-pressure measurement is expressed as one number over another, e.g. 120/80. The upper (systolic) value reflects the force with which the heart pumps blood around the body, while the other (diastolic) value is the pressure in the blood vessels when they are relaxed. Normal blood pressure readings for women are in the region of 120/80. The bottom figure is the one to watch in establishing whether or not you have hypertension – the medical name for high blood pressure. Anything over 90 is considered hypertensive.

If hypertension is ignored, it can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, strokes or kidney problems. Sometimes drugs are needed to lower blood pressure, but most of the time blood pressure can be controlled through nutrition and lifestyle changes.