Your neighbouring uncle has been diagnosed with hypertension. What should he do to keep his blood pressure within normal range?

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms.

High blood pressure should be treated using a team approach. This makes sense, as science supports more and better patient education around self-monitoring, nutrition, and lifestyle changes, as well as stress management.

The following methods can be adopted to keep the blood pressure within normal range:

1. Regular Exercise- One reason exercise is so effective at controlling blood pressure is because it stimulates your body to release a substance called nitric acid. Nitric acid causes blood vessels to open up, which reduces blood pressure. Exercise also helps to strengthen your heart muscle, reduce stress, and aid weight loss.

2. Lose excess weight - There's no getting around the fact that blood pressure goes up as the pounds pile on. Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes, too. Losing even 10 pounds can start to make your blood pressure go back down.

3. Eat healthily - Eating the right type of diet can lower your risk for high blood pressure or help you return to normal blood pressure. Clinical studies show that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts really works. You also need to avoid fats, red meat, and excess sugar.

4. Shake the salt habit - Your body only needs about 500 milligrams of salt a day, but if you are like the average American you may be consuming up to 9,000 mg a day. Studies show that high salt leads to high blood pressure. Current recommendations are to limit salt intake to 2,400 mg per day, the equivalent of about one teaspoon.

5. Put the brakes on smoking and drinking - These are two other bad habits to avoid if you want to keep a normal blood pressure. Alcohol raises blood pressure and adds empty calories. A safe amount of alcohol is only one drink a day for women and two for men. Smoking is not safe in any amount. Nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict and that raises blood pressure. Quitting will also lower your risk of cancer and heart disease.