Overview
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is
a frequent illness where the blood's long-term push against your artery walls
is so great that it may eventually result in health issues including heart
disease.
Blood pressure is influenced by both how much blood
your heart pumps and how much resistance your arteries present to blood flow.
Your blood pressure will increase as your arteries get more constricted and
your heart pumps more blood. The measurement of blood pressure is in
millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). There are two of them.
·
Top
number (systolic pressure). The
first, or upper, number measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart
beats.
·
Bottom
number (diastolic pressure). The second, or lower, number measures the pressure in your
arteries between beats.
Years may go by while you have high blood pressure
with no signs or symptoms. You run a higher risk of developing significant
health issues, such as heart attack and stroke, if your high blood pressure is
uncontrolled. Thankfully, elevated blood pressure is simple to spot. You can
work with your doctor to control your blood pressure if you are aware that you
have high blood pressure.
Symptoms
Symptoms Despite having blood pressure readings that
are dangerously high, the majority of persons with high blood pressure do not
exhibit any symptoms.
Only a small percentage of people with high blood
pressure have headaches, shortness of breath, or nosebleeds, and these signs
and symptoms typically don't appear until high blood pressure has reached a
severe or life-threatening level.
Whenever
to visit a doctor
During a typical doctor's visit, your blood pressure
will probably be taken.
Beginning at age 18, request a blood pressure check
from your doctor at least every two years. Ask your doctor to take your blood
pressure once a year if you are older than 40 or have a high risk of developing
high blood pressure if you are between the ages of 18 and 39.
In general, blood pressure readings in both arms
should be taken to see if there is a difference. It's crucial to utilize an arm
cuff that is the right size.
If you've already been diagnosed with high blood
pressure or have other cardiovascular disease risk factors, your doctor may
probably advise more frequent readings. Typically, blood pressure checks are
performed on children 3 and older as part of yearly examinations.
If you don't see your doctor frequently, you might
be able to receive a free blood pressure check at a health resource fair or
other venues in your neighborhood. Additionally, some shops have equipment that
will measure your blood pressure for free.
Public blood pressure monitors, like those found at
pharmacies, could be able to tell you useful things about your blood pressure,
but they might also have some limits. The accuracy of these devices depends on
a number of variables, including the right cuff size and optimal machine usage.
For guidance on using public blood pressure equipment, consult your doctor.
Causes
There are two types of
high blood pressure.
Primary (essential)
hypertension
For most adults,
there's no identifiable cause of high blood pressure. This type of high blood
pressure, called primary (essential) hypertension, tends to develop gradually
over many years.
Secondary hypertension
Some people have high
blood pressure caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure,
called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood
pressure than does primary hypertension. Various conditions and medications can
lead to secondary hypertension, including:
·
Obstructive sleep
apnea
·
Kidney disease
·
Adrenal gland tumors
·
Thyroid problems
·
Certain defects you're
born with (congenital) in blood vessels
·
Certain medications,
such as birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter
pain relievers and some prescription drugs
·
Illegal drugs, such as
cocaine and amphetamines
Risk factors
High blood pressure
has many risk factors, including:
v
Age. The risk of high blood pressure
increases as you age. Until about age 64, high blood pressure is more common in
men. Women are more likely to develop high blood pressure after age 65.
v
Race. High blood pressure is particularly
common among people of African heritage, often developing at an earlier age
than it does in whites. Serious complications, such as stroke, heart attack and
kidney failure, also are more common in people of African heritage.
v
Family
history. High blood
pressure tends to run in families.
v
Being
overweight or obese. The more you
weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues.
As the amount of blood flow through your blood vessels increases, so does the
pressure on your artery walls.
v
Not
being physically active. People
who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate,
the harder your heart must work with each contraction and the stronger the
force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of
being overweight.
v
Using
tobacco. Not only does
smoking or chewing tobacco immediately raise your blood pressure temporarily,
but the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls. This
can cause your arteries to narrow and increase your risk of heart disease.
Secondhand smoke also can increase your heart disease risk.
v
Too
much salt (sodium) in your diet. Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain
fluid, which increases blood pressure.
v
Too
little potassium in your diet. Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your
cells. A proper balance of potassium is critical for good heart health. If you
don't get enough potassium in your diet, or you lose too much potassium due to
dehydration or other health conditions, sodium can build up in your blood.
v
Drinking
too much alcohol. Over time, heavy
drinking can damage your heart. Having more than one drink a day for women and
more than two drinks a day for men may affect your blood pressure.
v If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For
healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day
for men. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of
80-proof liquor.
v
Stress. High levels of stress can lead to a
temporary increase in blood pressure. Stress-related habits such as eating
more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol can lead to further increases in blood
pressure.
v
Certain
chronic conditions. Certain chronic
conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including kidney
disease, diabetes and sleep apnea.
Sometimes pregnancy
contributes to high blood pressure as well.
Although high blood
pressure is most common in adults, children may be at risk, too. For some
children, high blood pressure is caused by problems with the kidneys or heart.
But for a growing number of kids, poor lifestyle habits — such as an unhealthy
diet and lack of exercise — contribute to high blood pressure.
Complications
The excessive pressure
on your artery walls caused by high blood pressure can damage your blood
vessels as well as your organs. The higher your blood pressure and the longer
it goes uncontrolled, the greater the damage.
Uncontrolled high
blood pressure can lead to complications including:
·
Heart
attack or stroke. High blood
pressure can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis),
which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications.
·
Aneurysm. Increased blood pressure can cause your
blood vessels to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm
ruptures, it can be life-threatening.
·
Heart
failure. To pump blood
against the higher pressure in your vessels, the heart has to work harder. This
causes the walls of the heart's pumping chamber to thicken (left ventricular
hypertrophy). Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping
enough blood to meet your body's needs, which can lead to heart failure.
·
Weakened
and narrowed blood vessels in your kidneys. This can prevent these organs from functioning normally.
·
Thickened,
narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes. This can result in vision loss.
·
Metabolic
syndrome. This syndrome is
a group of disorders of your body's metabolism, including increased waist size,
high triglycerides, decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the
"good" cholesterol), high blood pressure and high insulin levels. These
conditions make you more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
·
Trouble
with memory or understanding. Uncontrolled high blood pressure may also affect your
ability to think, remember and learn. Trouble with memory or understanding
concepts is more common in people with high blood pressure.
·
Dementia. Narrowed or blocked arteries can limit
blood flow to the brain, leading to a certain type of dementia (vascular
dementia). A stroke that interrupts blood flow to the brain also can cause
vascular dementia.