高血压，可谓众所周知——但有些人并不在意——他们觉得只有脾气暴躁、不好相处、易怒的老人才会得高血压。

　　If you close your eyes you can just see the cartoon of the office slave being chastised by the angry big boss with the red nose, bulging eyes and fist banging on the desk.

　　如果你闭上眼，可能会想到这样的卡通画面：“办公室奴隶”被生气的大老板责备，大老板红鼻子，鼓眼镜，攥拳砸桌子。

　　Of course someone that unpleasant deserves high blood pressure – his blood probably boils on a regular basis!

　　有些讨厌的人就该得高血压——他的血可能定期沸腾。

　　The thing is that you don't have to be angry (or a wealthy, impatient, bullying capitalist) to suffer from high blood pressure.

　　其实，不是生气（或富有、无耐心、为富不仁）就该得高血压。

　　The disease can be asymptomatic for years, that is you won't even know that you have it but, little by little, year by year the higher than normal pressure of the blood in your body will cause stress and damage to your blood vessels.

　　高血压可能潜伏多年，你可能根本不知情，但年复一年，你体内的高血压会对血管造成压力和损害。

　　For many people the condition develops slowly, over the course of years but for others it can come on suddenly as a complication of another disease such as sleep apnea or thyroid problems.

　　很多人的高血压都是历久经年慢慢发展，但也有些人是伴随睡眠窒息症或甲状腺类疾病等迅速爆发。

　　Left untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart problems, strokes, vision and memory problems and a whole host of other nasty things that you don't want to have to deal with.

　　高血压如不治疗，会引发心脏疾病、中风、视觉或记忆障碍等疾病。

　　It is for this reason that doctors monitor blood pressure regularly; it means that at the slightest sign that pressure is getting too high, you can start treatment for it and prevent potentially more serious issues from cropping up.

　　正因如此，医生才会定期测量血压；这样的话，只要有血压升高的迹象，你就可以开始治疗，防止其他潜在疾病突然爆发。

　　If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure it is important that you follow your doctor's advice and take the medications that he or she recommends.

　　如果你被诊断出患有高血压，遵从医嘱用药非常重要。

　　There are, however, several other things you can do to control your blood pressure naturally and we have set out 10 of the most effective of these in the article below.

　　但也有其他办法让血压值恢复正常，本篇文章将列出10条最有效的方法。

　　If you follow these 10 methods you may find that you manage to bring your blood pressure under control enough that your doctor will reduce or end your prescription (while monitoring your pressure carefully of course).

　　如果你听取这10条建议，你可能会发现你的血压恢复正常，医生用药也会减量，甚至终止用药（当然要仔细测血压）。

　　These 10 suggestions are simple and easy to follow and are worth doing so even if you do not have high blood pressure as they can help to promote a healthy lifestyle – what have you got to lose?

　　这10条建议简单易行，值得一试；即使你血压不高，也可以按着做，养成健康的生活方式——反正又没损失。

　　10.Get Moving. Exercise!

　　10.多锻炼

　　It can be so tempting to sit down and relax, particularly if you are not feeling well, are unfit or suffering from a condition which has caused your blood pressure to rise.

　　坐着放松，这种诱惑不易抵抗。这种诱惑，在身体不舒服或血压升高时更难推拒。

　　Sadly while this might feel good in the short term (who doesn't love relaxing on the couch) it can do you irrevocable harm in the long term.

　　尽管这会让人在短期内感觉良好（谁不爱在沙发上放松呢），但长期来看，造成的伤害难以修复。

　　Regular exercise has been shown to help to moderate blood pressure readings by 4-9 mmHg (millimeters of mercury).

　　定期锻炼能使血压值缓解4-9毫米汞柱。

　　This may not sound like much but it can be enough to help you keep your condition manageable and under control because the risk factors for high blood pressure double for every 20/10mmHg increase in reading.

　　所降值听起来不多，但会让你的身体状况不致出现难治危险，因为目标值每上升20/10毫米汞柱，高血压风险因素都会加倍。

　　多锻炼

　　In order to benefit from exercise you need to make it a regular part of your daily regime – it is not something that you can just stop and start and hope to feel benefits from.

　　为了能使身体从锻炼中受益，得让锻炼成为生活的一部分——这不是心血来潮做做就能获益的事。

　　As such you should aim to include at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise into your schedule most days.

　　所以，你得每天做30分钟左右的有氧运动。

　　If you are not fit and have not done much exercise you should start gently and work up. Studies have shown that resistance training appears to be the most efficient exercise method for blood pressure management.

　　如果你身体不健康，且运动量小，你要慢慢来。有研究显示，阻力训练是控制血压最有效的方法。

　　9.Cut the Salt

　　9.减少摄盐量

　　The typical western diet (and the American diet in particular) contains a huge amount of sodium, sadly far in excess of the recommended daily allowance of 2,300mg a day (less if you have high blood pressure).

　　典型的西方饮食（尤其是美国饮食）钠含量很高，远超每日建议的摄盐量2300毫克（如果有高血压，摄入量应更少）。

　　If you cook your own food at home think about how much salt you add to it while cooking? So many recipes call for a pinch of salt when it is not really necessary.

　　如果你自己在家煮饭，想想该放多少盐？很多食谱即使不需要盐也会标注“放一小撮盐”。

　　If you eat processed foods the numbers are even worse as salt is added during processing in order to replace the flavor that has been lost through the processing.

　　如果你吃的是加工食品，情况更糟，因为为了恢复加工时丧失的味道，往往会再加入些盐。

　　减少摄盐量

　　As if all this was not enough many of us like to add a dash of salt to our meals, irrespective of whether it has been added during cooking or not, it is a bit of a reflex action for many people.

　　很多人不管食物加工时有没有放盐，都会条件反射似得在食物中加少许盐。

　　However, it is also a dangerous habit because just one teaspoon of salt can put you over your recommended daily allowance.

　　但这个习惯也不好，因为只要一勺盐就会使摄盐量超过建议量。

　　Recent research may suggest that salt is not the bogeyman we thought it was with regard to high blood pressure but that does not mean that we all have a free pass to eat as much salt as we want.

　　最近有研究显示，盐对高血压的危害并不如我们想得大，但也不是说我们有了“吃盐许可证”，想吃多少就吃多少。

　　The fact remains that an excessive salt habit is linked to high blood pressure and the medical advice is to eat a low sodium diet if possible and, at the very least to restrict your salt intake to the moderate, recommended levels in order to help reduce your blood pressure.

　　事实上，摄入盐超量确实和高血压有关，而医生建议，如果可以，要保持较低的钠摄入量，至少要控制在医生推荐值左右，这样才能降血压。

　　8.Drop Some LBs

　　8.减肥

　　Weight is a big problem in the US and in the developed world as a whole. CDC studies for 2011-12 showed that over 35% of US adults aged over 20 were obese and a staggering 69% of Americans over the age of 20 were overweight (this includes the 35% obesity statistic).

　　体重在美国是个大问题，在其他发达国家也是大问题。2011-12年，美国疾病控制中心的研究表明，美国20岁以上的成年人有35%过于肥胖，而体重超标的占69%（包含过于肥胖的35%）。

　　These are frightening statistics but obesity and being overweight are more than just image issues, they are conditions that have negative health ramifications as well.

　　这些数据令人震惊，但肥胖和体重超标不仅仅是形象问题，还会对身体健康产生负面影响。

　　减肥

　　In addition to the many other health problems that excess weight can cause it has been linked as a contributory cause of high blood pressure – waist measurements of 40 inches and over for men and 35 inches and over for women put the person at risk for high blood pressure.

　　体重超标除引发健康问题外，还会导致高血压——男性腰围超过40英寸，女性腰围超过35英寸，都有高血压风险。

　　Every excess 10 pounds of weight you carry equates to approximately 4mmHg of blood pressure. With that in mind one of the best things you can do for the health of your blood vessels is to cut the pounds and lose weight.

　　体重每增加10磅，血压会增加4毫米汞柱。知道这些后，为了血管健康，我们能做的就是减肥。

　　This may seem daunting, particularly if you have struggled with your weight for much of your life only to be hit with a diagnosis of high blood pressure but it is an achievable goal.

　　这听起来有些吓人，尤其是已为体重挣扎良久，却遭高血压诊断打击的人，但这个目标是完全可以实现的。

　　If you follow the advice on many of the other points in this article you will be half way there.

　　只要你遵从这篇文章中的其他建议，你便成功在望。