Blood Pressure | How to Control High BP or Low BP

What is Blood Pressure

Blood Pressure or BP is used to denote a disease resulting in either high blood pressure or low blood pressure in the medical science.

BP refers to the symptoms of irregular blood circulation in the human body. Some circumstances cause huge fluctuations in the flow of blood from the heart to our various parts of the body through arteries and again during its return to the heart through veins. In normal sense, BP refers to the pressure put by circulating blood on walls of blood vessels. With each heartbeat, the blood gets pumped out and pressure is created in its flow as the blood vessels exert resistance on circulation. Under normal conditions, some fluctuations in the blood circulation are common. But when there is a huge difference in the pressure of blood leading to health problems, it is a worrying factor that needs to be controlled.

How to Measure Blood Pressure 

Blood Pressure is normally measured with a BP machine known as Sphygmomanometer.

An inflatable cuff or band is wrapped around the upper arm at the same height of your heart and pressure is created on the walls of blood vessels or arteries by pumping air into the cuff which presses your hand and creates pressure on blood flow.

The first reading is taken as systolic pressure when blood flows out with a sound on the first drop of air getting released as you loosen the knob of the cuff. When the full air gets released from the cuff, the pressure becomes very low which is measured as diastolic pressure. The sounds and flow are heard with the help of a stethoscope by the doctor.The readings of the machine indicate the low and high ranges of pressure during one circulation in the form of pressure required for supporting one-millimeter height of mercury which is abbreviated as mm Hg.

When the blood gets thrown out from the ventricles of the heart through arteries, the peak pressure occurs at the end point of circulation which is measured as systolic pressure. When the blood is received in ventricles before it is pumped out, the pressure will be minimum in the arteries which get measured as diastolic pressure.

So, each beat of heart measures two levels of pressure- the diastolic at the beginning of the beat before pumping out blood and the systolic pressure at the end point of the beat after throwing out blood.

The measurement is generally expressed in the ratio of systolic pressure over diastolic pressure; for example 120/80 mmHg.

Causes of High Blood Pressure or of Low BP

There are many causes for acquiring the BP symptoms of either high blood pressure or low blood pressure that are also known as hypertension or hypotension.

Some of the main causes are tension, diet, exercise, drugs, and alcohol intake, obesity, etc.

Other physical factors causing a blood pressure are the presence of a greater volume of blood, a greater thickness of blood, and resistance factors.

When the blood pressure reading denotes higher ranges above the normal range reading of 120/80, then it is regarded as high blood pressure or hypertension symptom. Excess intake of salt, excessive exercise, or exertion and continuous stress, and worries lead to high blood pressure. Excess blood produced in the body, a greater thickness of walls of blood vessels and greater resistance causes hypertension.

Blood pressures reading below the normal range of 120/80 denote low blood pressure or hypotension symptom.

Blood loss due to injury or due to periods, some toxic medicines and eating habits can cause low blood pressure or hypotension.

Tips for Controlling High Blood Pressure

• The first thing you should do to check high blood pressure is to consult a doctor. The doctor will examine your BP and prescribe medicines to bring it under control.
• Next thing to do is to reduce your daily dose of salt and sodium intake. Even a slight cut in the intake can help to bring down high blood pressure under control to some extent.
• Change your eating habits. Avoid junk food, fats, and creams. 
• Develop the healthy habit of consuming natural cooked food rich in whole grains along with vegetables and fruits intake. 
• Avoid masala powders and chili powders which hinder circulation of blood and cause abnormal fluctuations.
• Develop a regular habit of exercising like the morning walk, yoga, stretching of body and limbs in a rhythm. 
• Playing games and sports also contribute to healthy blood circulation. But the practice should be regular and one thing to note is, do not overdo anything. Whatever exercise you do is to be a regular daily habit and limited under your control according to your stamina.
• Avoid consuming alcoholic drinks, smoking, or chewing tobacco and drinking too much coffee and caffeine drinks. You can shift to tea in place of coffee.
• If you are overweight or obese, try to reduce your fat and weight by hectic exercise under the supervision of a doctor. Avoid consuming fat and milk products like Ghee, curd, etc. in total.
• Keep a constant watch on your blood pressure levels by taking measurements constantly for at least 3 or 4 times daily and keep in touch with your doctor and take regular doses of medicines as prescribed by him.

Tips for Controlling Low Blood Pressure

Common causes of low blood pressure are poor diet or malnutrition, tensions, and loss of blood etc. If you are suffering from low blood pressure, you will be experiencing weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, and fatigue, etc.

• To control low blood pressure also you need to consult a doctor and take medications according to his prescriptions.
• Next thing to do is to eat a healthy, protein-rich balanced diet with vegetables and fruits. 
• One thing to note is that eating in small quantities but for more times in a day is a healthy way of getting food digested easily and blood circulation gets improved quickly.
• Water intake is to be increased for better digestion and blood circulation. So, drink as much of water and fruit juices as possible.
• Avoid heat and high temperatures.as it can be fatal to you. Do not go unprotected on summer days and avoid staying too much on hot baths or in poorly ventilated kitchens, etc. 
• Too much exertion also develops high heat in your body. So be in control. Tensions and worries also lead to developing heat and dehydration in your body. So keep free from tensions.  

A healthy lifestyle combined with proper medical care can keep you away from the problems of blood pressure defects.

Related Topic:-
For tips on "How to control cholesterol and keep your blood healthy" read the following article
http://venkatacharim.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-Cholesterol-and-managing-Cholesterol-Levels-in-your-body

Ganesh Chauth Festival and The Story of Ganesha - Lord of The Ganas

Ganesh Chauth, also known as Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi, is the festival of the Lord of Ganas and obstacles.

Ganesh is a short form of GaNa + isha which means he is the Lord of all Ganas (attendants of God) or different groups of living beings.

Gana word includes, in a larger sense, four types of Ganas namely Devagana, Manushyagana, Rakshasagana, and Bhutagana.

Ganesha is referred to as Vighnesha also which means Lord of all Vighna or obstacles.

Another term used for Vighnesha is Vinayaka (Vighna + Nayaka). Nayaka means head. So Vinayaka means Head or Lord of all vighnas or obstacles. So whoever worships Ganesh is bestowed with the power to overcome obstacles and gain success in all his activities of life.

So, whoever starts a new business or activity is advised to worship Lord Ganesha at first.


Ganesh Chauth is celebrated by Hindus as the birthday of Lord Ganesha on the Chauth or the fourth day of the Hindu month of Bhadrapada masa in Shukla paksha which generally falls in between the period of the second fortnight of August to the first fortnight of September each year.

It is celebrated for 10 days continuously from the fourth day or Chauth to the fourteenth day known as Anant Chaturdashi and the celebrations are widely known as "Ganesh Navaratri".

This festival is mostly popular in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu even though it is celebrated throughout the country.

The Story Behind Ganesh Chauth

The story goes that Lord Shiva, according to Shiv Purana, was returning to Kailash after getting released from the body of Gajasura, an elephant-headed demon with the help of Lord Vishnu. Parvati gets joyous and decides to have a bath to get herself ready to welcome him. Before going to bath, she made the figure of a child with the sandalwood paste that she used to apply to her skin while bathing, breathed life into it, and kept the child as a guard at the doors to not allow anybody while bathing.

 When Lord Shiva enters, the boy stops him as he does not know him. Shiva gets enraged beheads the child and enters in. Knowing this, Parvati weeps for the child. Realizing his mistake, Shiva orders his ganas (or troops) to bring the head of Gajasura (whom he had given a boon before Lord Vishnu ordered Nandi to break open his womb for Shiva's release) and joins the head to the body of the child and makes him alive. From that time, Ganesha came to be known as Gajaanan.

Parvati gets happy and celebrates the occasion inviting all angels, sages, etc.

Later, Lord Shiva makes Ganesha the head of the ganas as he wins the test of bathing in all the rivers of the world and returns first to his parents before his brother Kumaraswamy (with the help of the Narayana mantra bestowed to him by Lord Shiva because of his humbleness and respect to his parents).

 All the angels and the troops celebrate the occasion by offering various kinds of food and fruits to Ganesha. After eating all those offerings, Ganesha returns to his parents and tries to bend down to pay obeisance to them seeking blessings. But due to his heavy belly after eating so much food, he experiences much difficulty in bowing to them seeing which the Moon on the head of Lord Shiva laughs. Immediately the stomach of Ganesha breaks out and he falls down unconscious on the floor with all food scattered out from his belly. Goddess Parvati gets very angry at this with the Moon and curses him that whoever sees him will beget a bad name and ill luck from thereafter.

Lord Shiva cools Parvati and makes Ganesha alive again using his powers on the advice of Brahma, Vishnu, and others.

Later, all people including sages approach Parvati and request her to take back her curse upon the Moon as it is not possible to live in the world without seeing the moon. Parvati realizes their problem and tells that her curse cannot be taken back but it will be applicable for one day only on this day of Ganesh Chauth each year on which day nobody should witness the moon.

Later, after many years, Lord Krishna happens to see the moon in the milk on this day of Ganesh Chauth and he is also not spared from being affected by that curse.

It happened that one king Satrajit once pleased Sun God through his prayers and got a golden jewel. It has some magical powers of producing gold of 160 tulas (one Tula is equal to 10 grams) daily to whoever keeps the jewel with him. After possessing it, the king happens to visit Lord Krishna and Krishna asks him to give it to him. But he does not give it and returns home. After that, one day his brother happens to wear it and go on hunting in the forests where he gets killed by a lion and then as the lion had swallowed the jewel, it gets killed by Jambavantha, an immortal vanara in the shape of a bear of the Ramayana period. Jambavantha ties the jewel to the cradle of his small daughter for playing with it.

When Satrajit finds his brother missing, he accuses Lord Krishna of killing his brother and stealing the jewel. He got this false accusation because of his witnessing moon in the milk. So Krishna immediately goes in search of the man to prove himself innocent and finds the dead body of the person and the body of a lion at some distance. Then following the footprints, he reaches the cave of Jambavantha wherein the jewel was shining brilliantly like a sun tied to the cradle. When he snatches the jewel, the child cries and Jambavantha comes there and fights with Sri Krishna fiercely. The battle takes place for 21 days and then Jambavantha recognizes that it must be Sri Rama of Ramayana period with whom he had requested foolishly for a fight when he was asked to seek a reward for his services. So he realizes his mistake and bows to Sri Krishna and seeks his forgiveness for his sin and returns him the jewel and along with it his daughter also as a gift.

Sri Krishna returns the jewel to king Satrajit after telling him all that had happened. The king feels ashamed for his action and seeks forgiveness from Krishna and gives the jewel to him as a repentance and also requests him to marry his daughter Satyabhama. Lord Krishna accepts Satyabhama but returns back the jewel to keep with Satrajit.

When all the angels, sages and human beings all come to know of these incidents, they reach Sri Krishna and ask for his help in seeking remedy for saving themselves also from the curse of Goddess Parvati. Then Sri Krishna gets pity on them and tells them to remember this story and read it or hear it from others on this day of Ganesh Chaturthi each year after offering prayers to Ganesha and take the prasadam and then they will not get any bad name on seeing the moon on that day. So from that day onwards, everybody began performing Ganesh Pooja and hearing of the story of Lord Ganesha and the Shamanthakamani story of Sri Krishna each year on this auspicious day.

How to Celebrate Ganesh Chauth

On this day of Ganesh Chaturthi, an idol of Ganesha is purchased or made in the home with clay and installed on a wooden plank or seat neatly decorated. All people take the full bath from head to toe on this day and wear new clothes or clean and neat clothes to perform the pooja. The room can also be decorated with flowers and artificial garlands and mango leaves etc. A square frame made of bamboo panes known as "palavelli" is built or purchased from market and applying turmeric all over it, mango leaves and flower garlands are also decorated all around it and it is placed above the Ganesha's idol as a ceiling and one small paper umbrella is also placed over the head of Ganesha. Then some fruits like Guava, Sharifa, Apple, etc. and sugarcane pieces and maize corns are also tied to the palavelli on all four corners so that they hang by the sides of Ganesha all around his seat.

How to Perform Ganesh Puja on Ganesh Chauth

After lighting the Diya and applying tilak to your foreheads and to the Ganesha idol, you can start the pooja by reciting some Ganesh slokas and stotras. Some important names of God and important slokas to be chanted at the start of this puja are given at this Link.

The pooja is done with 21 kinds of specified durva grass and leaves known as "Ganesh pooja patri" or patri for Vinayaka Chavithi and other types of flowers and some raw fruits. These items are all sold at all marketplaces on the day prior to this Pooja. So you need not worry about their identity or availability.

108 names of Ganesha are uttered while offering these things to the idol of God. A little quantity of rice mixed with turmeric and kumkum is also offered now and then during the pooja. Some grains of this rice is to be sprinkled over your heads after the puja is over and again after hearing the full story of Ganesha as above.

This turmeric-mixed rice after the worship of God become empowered with divine powers and is considered as receiving heavenly blessings from Lord Ganesha.

After doing pooja with all these items, you light the incense sticks and show them to God for smell and then show the lighted diya also to Him and then offer the naivedyam to God. Some people prepare 21 kinds of modaks (round balls of different offerings) as prasadam depending on their capability. After offering prasadam, camphor is lighted and Mangala Arathi is recited. Some devotees perform all the sixteen sevas (services are done to God) to Lord but generally this much as narrated above can be done by all.

How to Cook Modak or Undrallu for Ganesh Puja?
Preparation of Undrallu / Modak offerings for Ganesha is very simple. It is narrated in easy steps in this below-linked article.
https://vnktchari.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/tasty-thursdays-indian-preparation-steamed-rice-balls-known-as-modak-kudumulu-undrallu/

Other Celebrations of Ganesha Puja

After the puja is over, you can eat the prasadam and offer it to all others also. The story is read or heard in the evening time after lighting diya again to the Lord and after making a short puja. After hearing the story and putting some grains of the rice (that has been offered to God during the puja at morning which is known as akshata) on your heads, you can see the moon without fear as the curse on the moon will not affect you now.

People visit others' houses also to witness their Ganesha on this day. It has been a practice to visit at least 7 Ganesha idols after puja on this day.

At homes, most people celebrate this festival only for 3 days, if not for one day only.. Pooja is done on all the 3 days to Ganesha, if possible, both times and on the fourth day morning, the visarjan (dispersal or closing ceremony) is done by immersing the idol in the waters or by placing them at the pandals where grand-celebrations are carried out for 10 days; so that your idols are also carried away by them on the 11th day for immersing in lakes or rivers.

The celebrations at pandals are very great to be seen. With dazzling lights and decorations and beautiful colourful idols of different sizes, they attract all the people and it has become a spirit of competition among colonies to make the celebrations as beautiful and appealing as they can.

Where Our Indian Culture is Heading Towards?

Nowadays there is much talk of surrogacy, unmarried couple, and live-in relationships in our Indian Society.

People are tending towards enjoying life without undergoing the binding process of marriage or honest relationships.

And, surprisingly enough, the enactment of laws is also being considered to safeguard such relationships instead of discouraging such things and protect our Indian culture.


Today only, I have come across a news item in the Hyderabad edition of Deccan Chronicle which points out that our Union ministry for Women and Child Development has proposed allowing of surrogacy to all.

It proposed that ''the health ministry allow surrogacy to everyone, including unmarried couples and those in live-in relationships''. It also stressed the need for adequate compensation and cash aid to surrogate mothers.

I wonder what all this is going to result in.

While surrogacy can be acceptable in some rare extreme cases, other things like the unmarried couple and the live-in relationships giving birth to children senses very awkwardly.

When children are not born due to some unavoidable and incurable circumstances, a married couple can opt for surrogate babies or test tube babies. This is because they should also enjoy the pleasure of having children and also due to the reason that they should have some support at their old age to look after their needs.

But surrogacy should not be allowed for more than one or two children in such cases also. This method of having children should not be abused. Otherwise, it will tarnish the very definition of motherhood which is the divinely characteristic attribute of a woman.

Regarding unmarried couple and live-in relationships, I do not understand the need for such things at all.

Why and how can anybody think of having sexual enjoyment without getting married?

Is it not a sin to think so?

How can the moral conscience allow anybody to do this?

Don't you hesitate and feel fear in doing so? Are you not guilty of betraying your parents and relatives by thinking about such things?

Does it not tend to spoil your younger generations? It will further affect your mental and physical health conditions and make you very weak and unable to control yourself.

Some people try to drag the relationship of Radha and Krishna as similar to a live-in relationship and thereby tarnish their divine image. But it is only the ignorance of such people. They can not understand such divine relationships between God and His devotee.

Such people should know that the Radha-Krishna relationship is a very pure and chaste divinely relationship of two atmas or souls. There is no physical sexual notion at all here. It is the unification of Atma and Paramatma beyond all earthly pleasures of life. So do not try to compare their relationship as a mere physical bodily relationship.

So, live-in relationships should be maintained only on moral and mental relationships.You can maintain healthy friendships and spend closely with your friend sharing all your knowledge and interests and tastes very joyfully. When you like each other, you may begin to love each other and even then only mentally you share your love. But there should be no word of sex.

If sex is to be there, you should get married to enjoy it. But not until then. And, once married, you should live bound together throughout your entire life. No divorces.

Sexual relationship should not be confined to a merely bodily relation. It should be clubbed with the spiritual relationship between two souls. Not a simple union of bodies but also as the unification of souls. You give some divinely touch to sex. Only when both body and soul unite you get eternal satisfaction from it. You derive it when both body and mind are pure. It also acquires the blessings of your elders and society and the Almighty God.

So, let not the thoughts of sexual indulgence enter into your mind before marriage.

It is only a weakness of the human being just like the smoking habit or the consumption of alcohol. That tendency needs to be controlled. We should learn to adore friendships with moral and ethical values of life and should not tarnish the image of our society.

Live a healthy moral life and preserve your Indian culture and heritage untarnished and be a pride for your family and society.