
There are many factors responsible for heart diseases. Some of them include excessive intake of salt, alcohol, smoking, obesity, or genetics. But, there have been many misconceptions surrounding heart diseases such as hypertension. Some of the misconceptions are:
1. “If You Don’t Add Salt to Your Food, Hypertension is Far Away From You.”
Adding salt to your food goes beyond using your tabletop salt shaker to make your meal tastier. Sometimes, salt is already processed into the food during manufacturing. This is common among canned food items such as tomatoes, condiments, and others. So, avoiding salt in an already salted food might be a good way to reduce your sodium intake. But, it is not enough to avoid salt when it comes to combating hypertension.

2. “Wine is good for the heart”, so drink as much as you can.”
Drinking red wine comes with a lot of benefits such as regulating blood sugar. But, excessive consumption of red wine could also lead to heart failure or stroke.
3. “If you feel fine, you don’t have hypertension.”

Hypertension is often referred to as “The silent killer” because it sometimes shows little or no symptoms. This is why you should visit your doctor for regular checkups regardless of how “fine” you may feel.
4. “High blood pressure is the same as a high heart rate.”
High blood pressure is not the same as a high heart rate and the latter is not a sign of being hypertensive. If you realize you have a high heart rate, an irregular heartbeat or a rapid pulse. It is not a sign of being hypertensive because a ‘high heart rate’ does not cause your blood pressure to rise. To avoid mixing up the two, it is important to visit your doctor often.