ATLANTA – Tonya O’Bryan knew her blood strain was borderline excessive, however she realized how excessive it was till she went to the dentist a number of months in the past.

“That was a extremely massive wakeup name,” O’Bryan remembers.

She was informed she couldn’t get a scheduled root canal as a result of her blood strain was dangerously excessive.

“They did not inform me what my blood strain was, however they stated I wanted to go to the physician, like, as quickly as doable,” O’Bryan remembers.

The 45-year-old social media strategist who works in cardiovascular well being and stroke prevention went to an pressing care, then a brand new physician.

Just a few years again, she says, a physician had informed her she was pre-hypertensive, however had not defined what that basically meant, or what she might do about.

O’Bryan says over time, her healthcare suppliers had all the time targeted in on her weight.

“Like, earlier than we even get to ‘Hey, how are you doing,’ it is ‘You want to drop some pounds!’ I do know that! I see myself!”

This time round, O’Bryan says, issues had been totally different.

“I felt like she was telling me the reality in a manner I had by no means heard it earlier than, or possibly I hadn’t been listening,” she says.  “It wasn’t, ‘You want to do that as a result of XYZ.’  It was simply, ‘Right here is the data, right here is the place you might be, and right here is the place we have to get you.  So, how can we do that?’  And, it was a shared plan.”

Dr. Jessica Shepherd is a Dallas gynecologist and Chief Medical Officer of the web site Verywell Well being, says O’Bryan’s scare gave her to take cost of an issue many individuals might not be conscious they even have.

Tonya O’Bryan of Atlanta, Georgia, received a “wakeup name” on the dentist, when she couldn’t have a root canal as a result of her blood strain was too excessive. (Eli Jordan FOX 5 Atlanta)

“When you’ve got hypertension, that implies that your arteries are actually below excessive strain, and that implies that your coronary heart is working more durable,” Dr. Shepherd says.

O’Bryan now takes remedy to decrease her blood strain, and works out nearly with a private coach,

“I simply realized it was time to make some totally different modifications,” she says.  “And, at this level, it was like my life trusted it.”

Dr. Shepherd says there are methods to lower your danger of hypertension, beginning with train.

“Just remember to get not less than 150 minutes per week in of train, to essentially enhance your coronary heart fee,” Shepherd says.  “Additionally, (have a look at your) food plan.  What are the issues which are actually going to lower the chance of you getting hypertension, reminiscent of lowering carbohydrates, excessive sugars and issues which are processed, and soda.”

Discovering was to lower stress can also be vital, Shepherd says.

Tonya O’Bryan of Atlanta, Georgia, received a “wakeup name” on the dentist, when she couldn’t have a root canal as a result of her blood strain was too excessive.

As an alternative of proscribing sure meals, O’Bryan has targeted on including numerous wholesome recent fruit and greens.

“I am not attempting to repair it shortly, no fad diets,” she says.  “I am actually attempting to get to know me and my physique higher.”

Her blood strain is again within the wholesome vary, nevertheless it’s a piece in progress.

“It is a one-day-at-a-time factor,” O’Bryan says.  “Like, this did not occur in a single day.  My blood strain did not get sky-high in a single day.  So, it is one thing I’ve to work on.”