YOU NEED TO WORK WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL TO COME UP WITH A PLAN TO: Help set, achieve and maintain a healthier blood pressure goal Maintain a healthy weight Be physically active Follow a healthy eating plan Reduce salt in your diet Drink alcohol only in moderation Stop smoking Take prescribed medications as directed

Lifestyle changes are the first steps toward helping you achieve a healthier blood pressure goal. If you are pre-hypertensive changes in diet and exercise are critical to prevent high blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, such changes are very important in managing your condition and you may need a prescription medication.

Lifestyle changes play an essential role in ensuring your health if you are pre-hypertensive or if you have high blood pressure.
Actions recommended in the report include weight reduction, dietary changes (such as reducing salt in your diet), increasing physical activity and decreasing alcohol intake and stopping smoking.

If you have high blood pressure, lifestyle changes, while essential, may not be enough to lower your blood pressure to a healthier level.
Your health care professional may prescribe medication to assist in lowering your blood pressure. There are many medications available to help lower your blood pressure and finding the best medication or combination of medications for you may take time. It is often a matter of trial and testing to determine which medicines work best for each patient. And remember that even if you do need to take medication to lower your blood pressure, you must still make healthy lifestyle changes. Doing so may reduce the amount of medication you need.

Because your healthy blood pressure plan will be developed specifically to meet your needs, you should never share your medications and you should never change or stop your medications without talking with your health care professional.

Click here to download a PDF (268 KB) with more information on how to control your blood pressure.