Anxiety Symptoms : Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension and fear characterized by physical symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, and feelings of stress. Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults. In fact, anxiety disorders as a group are the most common mental illness in America. Children and adolescents can also develop anxiety disorders. These disorders fill people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event such as a business presentation or a first date, anxiety disorders are chronic, relentless, and can grow progressively worse if not treated.

Panic Disorder : Panic disorder is a serious health problem in this country. At least 1.6 percent of adult Americans, or 3 million people, will have panic disorder at some time in their lives. The disorder is strikingly different from other types of anxiety in that panic attacks are so very sudden, appear to be unprovoked, and are often disabling. Once someone has had a panic attack, for example, while driving, shopping in a crowded store, or riding in an elevator, he or she may develop irrational fears, called phobias, about these situations and begin to avoid them. Eventually, the pattern of avoidance and level of anxiety about another attack may reach the point where the individual with panic disorder may be unable to drive or even step out of the house. At this stage, the person is said to have panic disorder with agoraphobia. Thus, panic disorder can have as serious an impact on a person's daily life as other major illnesses, unless the individual receives effective treatment. panic disorder is real and potentially disabling, but it can be controlled with specific treatments. Because of the disturbing symptoms that accompany panic disorder, it may be mistaken for heart disease or some other life-threatening medical illness. People frequently go to hospital emergency rooms when they are having a panic attack, and extensive medical tests may be performed to rule out these other conditions. Medical personnel generally attempt to reassure the panic attack patient that he or she is not in great danger. But these efforts at reassurance can sometimes add to the patient's difficulties: If the doctors use expressions such as "nothing serious," "all in your head," or "nothing to worry about," this may give the incorrect impression that there is no real problem and that treatment is not possible or necessary. The point is that while panic disorder can certainly be serious, it is not organ-threatening. Symptoms of a panic attack appear suddenly, without any apparent cause. They may include: Racing or pounding heartbeat Chest pains Dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea Difficulty breathing Tingling or numbness in the hands Flushes or chills Dreamlike sensations or perceptual distortions Terror - a sense that something unimaginably horrible is about to occur and one is powerless to prevent it Fear of losing control and doing something embarrassing Fear of dying

Lifestyle modifications for treating hypertension : Lifestyle modifications refer to certain specific recommendations for changes in diet and exercise. These modifications can lower the blood pressure as well as improve the patient's response to blood pressure medications. Dietary modifications include restricting salt and alcohol and reducing weight if the individual is overweight. The American Heart Association recommends that the consumption of dietary salt be less than 6 grams of salt per day in the general population and a lower level (for example, less than 4 grams) for people with hypertension. To achieve a diet containing less than 4 grams of salt, a person should not add salt to their food or cooking. Also, the amount of natural salt in the diet can be reasonably estimated from the labeling information provided with most purchased foods. Obesity is common among hypertensive patients and its prevalence increases with age. In fact, obesity may be what determines the increased incidence of high blood pressure with age. Obesity can contribute to hypertension in several possible ways. For one thing, obesity leads to a greater output of blood because the heart has to pump out more blood to supply the excess tissue. The increased cardiac output then can raise the blood pressure. For another thing, obese hypertensive individuals have a greater stiffness (resistance) in their peripheral arteries throughout the body. Finally, obesity may be associated with a tendency for the kidneys to retain salt. Weight loss may help reverse problems related to obesity while also lowering the blood pressure. It has been estimated that the blood pressure can be decreased 0.32 mm Hg for every 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of weight lost. Some obese people, especially if they are very obese, have a syndrome called sleep apnea. This syndrome is characterized by the periodic interruption of normal breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea may contribute to the development of hypertension in this subgroup of obese individuals. This happens because the repeated episodes of apnea cause a lack of oxygen (hypoxia). The hypoxia then causes the adrenal gland to release adrenalin and related substances. Finally, the adrenalin and related substances cause a rise in the blood pressure. A regular exercise program may help lower blood pressure over the long term. For example, activities such as jogging, bicycle riding, or swimming for 30 to 45 minutes daily may ultimately lower blood pressure by as much as 5 to15 mm Hg. Moreover, there appears to be a relationship between the amount of exercise and the degree to which the blood pressure is lowered. Thus, the more you exercise (up to a point), the more you lower the blood pressure. The beneficial response of the blood pressure to exercise occurs only with aerobic (vigorous and sustained) exercise programs. Therefore, any exercise program must be recommended or approved by an individual's physician.

Stress is simply a fact of nature -- forces from the outside world affecting the individual. Hence, all living creatures are in a constant interchange with their surroundings (the ecosystem), both physically and behaviorally. This interplay of forces, or energy, is of course present in the relationships between all matter in the universe, whether they are living (animate) or not living (inanimate). However, there are critical differences in how different living creatures relate to their environment. These differences have far reaching consequences for survival. Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives, we usually think of stress as a negative experience. But from a biological point of view, stress can be neutral, negative, or positive. Stress has driven evolutionary change (the development and natural selection of species over time). Thus, the species that adapted best to the causes of stress (stressors) have survived and evolved into the plant and animal kingdoms we now observe. Man, because of the evolution of the human brain, especially the part called the neo-cortex, is the most adaptive creature on the planet. This adaptability is largely due to the changes and stressors that we have faced and mastered. Therefore, we, unlike other animals, can live in any climate or ecosystem, at various altitudes, and avoid the danger of predators. Moreover, most recently, we have learned to live in the air, under the sea, and even in space, where no living creatures that we know of have ever survived. There is now speculation, as well as some evidence, that points to the abnormal stress responses as being involved in causing various diseases or conditions. These include anxiety disorders, depression, high blood pressure, certain ulcers and other gastrointestinal diseases, some cancer, and even aging itself. Stress also seems to increase the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, asthma attacks, and blood sugar fluctuations in diabetics. Overwhelming psychological stress (such as the events of Sept. 11th) can cause both temporary (transient) and long lasting (chronic) symptoms of a serious psychiatric illness called posttraumatic stress disorder.