(10) Feels vaguely guilty if he has nothing to do even for a while; he just cannot enjoy a weekend or a vacation.
(11) Attempts to schedule more and more in less and less time, leaving little room for unseen contingencies; in short, he suffers from a chronic sense of time-urgency.
(12) Feels challenged or jealousy when in company of another ‘type A’ person.
(13) Unconsciously clinches his fists or jaws and grinds his teeth, while occupied in some work.
(14) Thinks that his success depends solely upon the pace of his work,
(15) Tries to accomplish most tasks in the same vein, hesitates to employ a new idea or a new system and lacks imagination and creativity.
(16) Cannot remember the color or furniture of even a most recently visited place; knows little about his
neighbors, nearby shops or other places,
(17) Considers it to be a waste of time if he has to play with his children on returning home from work,
(18) Remains so engrossed in his activity that is unaware of things occurring around him.
(19) Has an extreme fascination for numbers; if a businessman, he is more interested in the figure of his income than in how he will use that money.
Even with a fleeting glance at the above list, it is clear that a ‘type A’ person considers life a battle, races against the clock and invites mental tension. In an experiment, psychologists analyzed the minds of thousands of college students to classify them into ‘type A’ predicted that most of the ‘type A’ students will develop high blood pressure over the years. This prediction turned out to be absolutely true. That ‘non type A’ students did not develop high blood pressure is suggestive.
The reader is strongly recommended to analyze his mind on the basis of above characteristics of ‘type A’
behavior. Mental tension or ‘type A’ personality stimulates the secretion of certain undesirable juices inside the body, which increase the arteriolar resistance and cause high blood pressure. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a ‘type A’ person literally rushes towards high blood pressure and coronary heart disease.
(3) Excessive intake of salt: That an excessive intake of common salt (sodium chloride) elevates the blood pressure is an indisputable
fact. Extensive studies have shown that in all those countries where the average salt-intake is high, the incidence of high blood pressure, too, is high. Even in a single country, the incidence of high blood pressure is higher in coastal places than in the interiors. Several thousand Americans were studied, between 1950 and 1952 AD, to determine the relationship between the salt-intake and high blood pressure.
People were divided into three groups
(1) those consuming 2-3 grams of salt a day,
(2) those consuming 4 to 10 grams of salt a day and
(3) those consuming 12 to 18 grams of salt a day.
This study showed that the blood pressure of low salt eaters remained almost normal even in old age; people whose salt-consumption was more than 5 grams a day had a high incidence of high blood pressure.
In fact, salt is just an old habit of human beings. The salt contents of natural foods is remarkably low. It is the man who adds salt to food at every step. We ourselves make our children addicts of common salt. We may prefer to remain hungry to taking
salt less diet. But we should note that those who have never tasted salt, find its taste extremely disagreeable.
(4) Obesity (excessive weight): The relationship between obesity and high blood pressure is well known. High blood pressure is extremely common in fat persons. On the basis of a study of 567 obese and 1225 normal persons, Dr.
Pincher and Dr Wright have shown that the incidence of high blood pressure is 2 ½ times more in obese than in normal persons.
After examining 74000 industrial workers, Drs. Master, Dublin and Marks found that the blood pressure is proportional to body-weight. The greater the obesity, the higher is the blood pressure. Another alarming fact is that in the obese, high pressure develops much earlier in life, sometimes even in the second decade.
(5) Sedentary life: The incidence of high blood pressure is much higher in sedentary persons than in physical
laborers. In a study covering 1000 athletes, it was found that they had a systolic blood pressure of only 99 mm Hg on an average.
(6) Smoking: The incidence of high blood pressure has been found to be higher in smokers. Smokers more often fall victims to
arteriosclerosis, heart attack and cerebral hemorrhage. Tobacco has two toxic elements :
nicotine and carbon monoxide. When these toxins enter the body through lungs, the secretion of naroadrenaline in the blood is stepped up. In an experiment, it was seen that smoking just two cigarettes causing a blood pressure elevation of 8-10 mm, which then stayed high for 15 minutes or more.
Nicotine and carbon monoxide throw into disarray the process of purification of blood in the lungs, thereby burdening the heart.
(7) Alcohol consumption: Studies conducted in America, Britain, Sweden, Australia and a number of other countries have proved that the incidence of high blood pressure in drinkers is 2 ½ times higher than that in non-drinkers. |