Your Nurse Champions

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a common condition medical professionals call the silent killer. Silent because having elevated blood pressure often goes undetected for years or decades as it slowly causes fatal changes throughout the body, leading to death. Common comorbidities of prolonged hypertension include: kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, angina, dementia, vision loss, blindness, sexual dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, fatigue, artery damage, blood clots, and much more. Unfortunately, many individuals do not know or treat hypertension until the damage has already taken place. But it's not too late. There are many methods and options available to treat and eliminate this life threatening condition. The traditional method of treating hypertension consists of a doctor's visit, finding of hypertension, a series of cardiac studies, and then being prescribed medication.Often this is accompanied by a diagnosis of genetic hypertension, familial hypertension, secondary hypertension or idiopathic hypertension (unknown cause). Regardless of the diagnosis, the underlying cause  can go unnoticed and untreated. Frankly, because there is not enough time and individuality to this approach. The band aid approach. So what's a normal blood pressure? Ideally 120/60.When does blood pressure become dangerous? When your systolic pressure (the first number) rises above and sustains above 150 you should be concerned.Long term effects of elevated blood pressure leads to interior vessel damage and therefore creates even more of a risk to you such as narrowing of the blood vessel, clotting and arteriosclerosis. So what generally leads to hypertension?Some causes for hypertension include obesity, hypernatremia or high sodium, lack of exercise, elevated homocysteine, sleep deprivation, substance use, smoking, stress, hypercholesterol or high fats in the blood, diabetes, kidney dysfunction, lung disease, diet and age.Getting to the core issue and addressing the primary cause or causes of hypertension is the ideal treatment. Unfortunately this is often challenging and time consuming for individuals to navigate themselves. They find there is no direct guidance from medical professionals. Instead the medication seems to be the end all be all approach. Most providers are unfortunately taught this method in school and are not programmed to use a holistic approach.Depending on the cause of hypertension, there are methods and scientifically proven lifestyle changes that can eliminate the silent killer in your life, without having to take medication with harmful side effects. Here are some general non-specific ways to treat hypertension:1. Sodium. Water follows salt. The more salt you digest, the more water that attaches to it. This fills up the veins and arteries, and the pressure makes the heart have to work harder to pump. By reducing sodium intake, we reduce the amount of fluid in our vascular space and lessen the workload of the heart. 2. Quit smoking. Smoking causes damage to the inside of our vessels, contributes to blood clotting, and damages your lungs. The damage in your lungs causes a backup of blood flow.3. Exercise. Your heart is its own muscle and requires exercise. When we exercise, we require the heart to improve endurance. Therefore when we are at rest, it has an easier time pumping blood.4. Diet. Eating a well balanced diet can reduce excess cholesterol. Bad cholesterol component that accumulates inside your vessels. When this happens, the opening becomes smaller making the heart have to pump harder to push through.5. Weight loss. Losing excess weight means the body needs less blood to feed extra tissue. When we lose weight, we reduce the need for the heart to pump harder to feed the excess mass. The extra pumping causes the heart muscle to become large then sets into other diseases, such as heart failure.6. Stress reduction. Stress induces a response in our body, causing inflammation,  increasing our heart rate and narrowing our vessels. This again causes the heart to have to pump harder and thus increases our blood pressure.Utilizing an experienced certified nurse and wellness coach can bridge the gap between lifestyle modification and optimal health. By utilizing this approach, you can obtain a personal and individualized plan and treatment for hypertension and other ailments concurrently. To learn more about a specific plan designed for you or to schedule a free consultation, click below. I would be happy to see if we are a good fit to work together and begin living the life you were designed for and the care you deserve. 

17.3 million Americans suffer from depression.Medical definition:A mental health disorder characterized by persistent depressed mood or loss of interested in activities causing significant impairment in daily lifeHow is it diagnosed?Two weeks of depressed mood, loss of interest, problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration or self-worth.How is it  traditionally treated?Antidepressants-the second most commonly prescribed medication in the US.Most antidepressants are prescribed by primary care physicians with limited training with mental disorders and are not psychiatrists.Why was depression being treated with a medication that treats chemical imbalances but causes side effects without first looking into the lifestyle of the patient?Perhaps depression could be onset by unhealthy environments, nutrition, hormones, stress or lack of movement.One holistic approach I started digging deeper into was exercise and its antidepressant abilities. There is undoubtedly a stark inverse relationship between inactivity and depression among us humans, but why?Exercise causes a cascade of biological events that results in numerous health benefits. Exercise releases endorphins within our system, which many call a runners high. But the long term benefits to exercise are much more important. The proteins released cause growth factors and make new cell connections in the brain. This improvement can help make people feel better. The results of long term exercise are even noted in the structures of the brain, particularly the hippocampus which helps relieve depression. Exercise is one of many holistic approaches to treating depression. Other methods include meditation, breathing exercises, diet, elimination of substance use, treating nutritional deficiencies, correction of hormones, and lifestyle modification.By reverting back to the causations of disease rather than treating the symptoms, we take back our bodies and allow ourselves to live freely and fully. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. But building a personalized plan to holistically combate depression can be challenging, especially if you are suffering from the effects. Nurse coaches are uniquely designed to do the hard work for you. Nurse health and wellness coaches are rapidly building in numbers as bedside nurses are tired of using the bandaid approach to health. We are demanding more for our patients, and want to systemically reform healthcare.Depression is just one of many common diagnoses that can often be fixed with lifestyle modifications. To learn more about what you can do to take back control of your health book a free, no obligation session. Lets get your health back.

There are two main types. Type I (Juvenile) and Type II Type 2 diabetes is much more common and is typically caused by lifestyle choices. Unlike type I, the pancreas can make insulin, but not enough. This leads to the sugar being left in the blood stream instead of being pushed into the cell for an energy source.Some risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes:weightinactivityfamily historyhigh LDL cholesterol levelsAge over 45prediabetesComplications of type 2 diabetes:blood vessel disease nerve damage impaired healing heart disease stroke kidney disease eye damage dementiaPeople with type 2 diabetes, on average, have a shortened life expectancy by about 10 years.You can prevent type 2 diabetes by: eating properly exercise losing weightBalancing your nutrition with the proper amounts of proteins, carbs and fat not only helps you look better, have more energy and confidence but it also prevents chronic disease. Over 80% of chronic disease is preventable through lifestyle modification!