Five Probable Causes of Low Blood Pressure in Seniors

All the attention goes to hypertension because it's linked to stroke, heart attack and a number of other conditions. Many seniors have to watch out for high blood pressure. Sometimes though, hypotension aka low blood pressure is more of a threat. High blood pressure happens when the blood vessels narrow too much, making the heart to have to pump hard to get blood flowing throughout the body. Hypotension is just the opposite. The blood flow is slow because the blood vessels are not wielding enough resistance, causing some parts of the body to develop a lack of oxygen and nutrients. In the long run, low blood pressure in seniors can cause serious problems.

The yardstick for normal blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg; that means technically anything below that reading could be considered low blood pressure. In actuality, many healthy seniors have a normal blood pressure reading below 120/80 mm Hg. There is no cause for concern as long as no unusual symptoms present themselves.

With low blood pressure symptoms, seniors might feel lightheadedness, dizziness and even fainting spells. These symptoms mean that the brain is not receiving adequate oxygen and nutrients. The same theory applies when the kidneys or heart do not collect nutrients and oxygen. Seniors could experience angina or a heart attack. Plus, the kidneys could halt the filtering of waste from the blood.

So what are the causes of hypotension anyway? A litany of problems exists that could contribute to low blood pressure in seniors. However, unless a senior has some obscure disease, chances are they will have one of these five probable causes of hypotension:

1. Dehydration is likely when a senior loses a huge amount of water in their blood either through sweating, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or even heat stroke. The loss of electrolytes is also a problem.. That is why seniors who are dehydrated should drink a sports drink; these help bring the electrolytes and salt levels to within normal range. Lingering dehydration and hypotension can lead to acidosis, shock, kidney failure and even orthostatic hypotension, which is what happens when the blood pools in the lower half of the body, causing dizziness, fainting or lightheadedness when a senior gets up from a prone position.

2. An allergic reaction or even a simple infection can also cause hypotension. However, a senior's health condition would have to be pretty severe in order for this to happen.

3. Excessive or prolonged bleeding can cause low blood pressure. Aneurysms, ulcers, tumors, the shock of losing blood or even accident trauma can cause hypotension.

4. Many prescriptions that seniors take also cause low blood pressure. Erectile dysfunction medications and even anti-depressants contribute to the cause. A senior with high blood pressure has been known to develop hypotension. Usually it is due to the wrong hypertension prescription or even taking a high blood pressure drug in the wrong part of the day or at the wrong dosage.

5. Various forms of heart disease have been known to cause hypotension. Genetic factors play a part in forming low blood pressure as well as an infection in the sac around the heart. Hypotension in seniors also can involve the aorta

Your doctor should be consulted before trying any treatment plan for low blood pressure. The causes should be pinpointed first so that the right solution can be found.

Have you Properly Planned your Retirement?

Gone are the days of the past when people went from years of labor only to go home and live a rather stale and stagnate lifestyle until reaching death. Today's retirees are more active than ever. Unfortunately, those activities take money and unless you're planning to sit at home and wait for death you should be making plans to take care of all those things you wish you had done earlier in life once you retire.

While you are planning for your financial retirement you should also take the time to make plans for what you will do once you retire. Do you need to join a travel club now in order to have an established membership when the time comes to actually enjoy the benefits of belonging? How about that book of the month club? Many of these clubs are great to join while you have the extra 'disposable' income that goes along with working and having a career. You can take the time now to build up your library. Even if you read the books now, chances are that by the time you retire you'll enjoy the ability to read them again.

If you are retiring today you will want to make plans to go parasailing, take cruises, ride horses, and maybe learn to golf and/or knit. You do not want to spend your golden years sitting at home waiting for the inevitable end. You want to leave this world laughing about all the fun and good times you've had. The stereotypes associated with retirees are changing quickly as the world evolves and people are living longer than ever before.

When you plan your funds you also might want to take the time to have a few daydreams about the places you will go and save a page or two to write about those dreams and sharing them with your partner in life. You should also take time to find out what he or she hopes to do, where he or she hopes to go, and the things that he or she would like to see when making plans for your retirement. After all, you have shared your lives together it only makes sense that you will share the best years of your lives with one another.

There is no better input to get when it comes to your retirement than the input of your life partner. You should also take things in stages and not try to do and see everything in the first months or year of your retirement. The novelty of not going into the office each and every day will wear off quite soon. You will then find that you can only mow your lawn so many times a day without actually doing more harm than good to your grass. You'll know every leave of every flower in your garden, and you will know the inside and outside of every book on your shelves. Don't become a victim of boredom in your retirement as that brings on spending sprees. Find a hobby that doesn't require a considerable investment and you will help prolong the limited funds you will have at retirement and save them for the more important things on your list of "things to do before you die".