Q: I am a 35 years old man suffering from high blood pressure (BP). My office timings are very erratic. I get up at 3 AM and go to bed at 11 PM. Earlier I took Ciplar for three months. But now I am taking Amlopres 5 mg for the last 2 months. Without medicine, my BP stays at 130/90 mmHg. Sometimes it shoots up at 130/100 mmHg. My blood sugar level is - 105 mg/dl (fasting), serum creatinine - 1.06, serum uric acid - 7.2, lipid profile: cholesterol - 154 mg/dl, triglycerides – 98 mg/dl, HDL – 39 mg/dl, LDL - 95.4 mg/dl, VLDL - 19.6 mg/dl. Is my high blood sugar level, serum creatinine, uric acid responsible for hypertension? My height is 6.1 feet and weight is 75 kg. What type of diet I should take? Am I having a kidney problem?

A:Your sedentary lifestyle is probably the cause of your high blood pressure (BP). Further, if you have a strong family history of hypertension that would make you further prone to having it. So start by undertaking increased physical activity, consuming healthy diet low in salt, rich in green leafy vegetables and fruits besides compliance with BP lowering medications. Kidney disease, elevated blood uric acid and cholesterol levels are of common occurrence in patients with long-standing hypertension. Long standing hypertension does put your kidneys to risk for injury. Early signs of kidney disease would involve increased leakage of protein in the urine. Hence, you should undergo urine tests on a regular basis besides other routine labs like serum creatinine (helps to estimate your kidney function), fasting blood sugar and lipid panel. There is no definite role of any diet in preventing or treating kidney disease. Review of your lab results doesn't necessarily indicate that you have any evidence of kidney disease though you still need to undergo urine tests to look for any signs of kidney injury.