Of the various health problems that dominate the world of modern health, hypertension is one that needs to be watched out for. The reason is, high blood pressure or hypertension often does not cause symptoms, but can cause various health problems. That’s why some treatments are always needed.

Some of the dangers or complications of high blood pressure may appear, such as heart failure, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. In fact, if kidney failure has occurred, you may need a kidney transplant or dialysis.

For this reason, it is important for you to be aware of the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure as early as possible to avoid getting worse hypertension.

High blood pressure often shows no particular features, signs, or symptoms. The only way to find out high blood pressure is through a blood pressure test. If your blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg, then you have normal blood pressure, but if your blood pressure reaches 140/90 mmHg or more, then you are classified as hypertension.

Even though they don’t have obvious signs, some people with a history of hypertension often complain of several symptoms. Generally, these symptoms can be felt if you have other health conditions that may be the cause of hypertension or what is also known as secondary hypertension. In addition, symptoms can also be felt if you have very high blood pressure or what is called as a hypertensive crisis.

You may notice several symptoms that may appear during hypertension state. The American Heart Association (AHA) calls red eye patches (subconjunctival bleeding) one of the most common symptoms of high blood pressure, and apart from hypertension sufferers, this symptom is also sometimes found in diabetics.

However, high blood pressure and diabetes are not the cause of these red patches, so you should immediately see a doctor if there are similar symptoms in your eyes. An ophthalmologist can detect any damage to the optic nerve of your eye, which may be caused by untreated high blood pressure.

In addition to red spots on the eyes, the AHA also said that people with high blood pressure often complain of facial flushing symptoms, a condition in which your face turns red due to enlargement of the blood vessels.

This condition can usually occur suddenly, or is a response to certain conditions, such as exposure to sunlight, cold air, spicy food, wind, hot drinks, or certain facial care products irritation.

Red-colored faces can also occur due to psychological pressure or stress, exposure to hot water, alcohol consumption, and exercise. These conditions can temporarily trigger high blood pressure, causing redness to appear.

Although this may occur due to high blood pressure, this condition is not always caused by this disease. As said above, certain medication is needed. Most people would like to go the natural way via having the benefits of watermelon, or other healthy materials to treat this issue. One of them is garlic.

Aside from being a must-have spice in the kitchen, garlic is also believed to be a natural remedy for hypertension. Here’s the benefits of garlic that you need to know :

1. Reducing Cholesterol

Garlic can help lower cholesterol, which is one of the factors that cause increased blood pressure, by inhibiting the cholesterol absorption in the digestive tract.

Garlic is also able to inhibit the action of the enzymes HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A) reductase and hepatic cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase, which play a major role in forming cholesterol. Thus, cholesterol production will decrease.

2. Treating High Blood Pressure

This spice is also famous for its capability to treat hypertension. Apart from lowering cholesterol, which can indirectly lower blood pressure, garlic also contains substances that help maintain normal blood pressure.

The substances contained in garlic work by stimulating the body to produce nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) that are important to reduce the tension in the blood vessels which makes blood pressure increase, and thus, the relaxation of blood vessels will be followed by a drop in blood pressure. In addition, garlic also works by inhibiting the work of endothelin 1 and angiotensin II, which in turn relaxes blood vessels.

But unfortunately, the active substance content in 1 garlic clove is not necessarily the same, so the therapeutic effect you get will also be different. Therefore, before using garlic as an alternative to additional therapy to treat hypertension, you should first consult with an internal medicine doctor or a nutritionist.

3. Provides Healthier Heart

Garlics can be really useful to support your internal body’s health. The good news, garlic is also potentially good for preventing the risk of heart disease. Garlic has been recognized as an adjunct treatment in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, which in turn reduces the risk of atherosclerosis.

Uniquely, the most consistent benefits were shown by extracts from dried garlic (aged garlic). According to a number of studies, aged garlic extract can effectively reduce the buildup of soft plaque and prevent the formation of new plaque.

Research from the Journal of Nutrition using aged garlic also shows the effect of reducing levels of calcium and C-reactive protein in the coronary arteries. Calcium deposits in the coronary arteries are a sign of plaque buildup that can narrow or block the arteries while the C-reactive protein is a special protein that triggers inflammation.

The two conditions above then trigger atherosclerosis. When atherosclerosis occurs, you will be more susceptible to heart attack or stroke.