High blood pressure is a condition in which the pressure in the blood vessels is abnormally and persistently high, which can lead to heart disease and other health issues. Blood pressure is measured by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the flow of blood into your arteries; thus, the more blood your heart pumps and the thinner your arteries are, the higher your blood pressure.
Uncontrolled hypertension is unhealthy because it can lead to a slew of health issues.
Below we look at some of the complications uncontrolled hypertension can cause.
Heart attack and stroke
The hardening or blocking of your arteries is caused by hypertension. Blood clots can form when artery walls are damaged, and these blood clots can travel through your bloodstream and block blood flow to your heart or brain, resulting in a heart attack or stroke.
Can cause heart failure
The thickening of the heart muscle is caused by artery hardening and blockage, which makes your heart work harder. Pumping enough blood to all of your body parts becomes a challenge as your heart grows bigger, leading to heart failure.
Chest pain
Chest pains are a common symptom of hypertension. Patients with high blood pressure will have difficulty walking uphill or exercising if their heart does not receive enough blood. You will feel discomfort or fullness in your abdomen, which is known as angina.
Kidney failure of damage
The kidney’s operation would be slowed due to narrowed blood vessels. Since less blood reaches the kidneys, hypertension can lead to kidney failure. The kidney’s job is to eliminate contaminants from the body, and hypertension causes the kidney to function slowly.
Sexual dysfunction
Hypertension can lead to low libido in women and erectile dysfunction in men, all of which can lead to a lack of sexual desire. Patients with low libido will have sex-related issues.
Dementia
Hypertension causes arteries to widen or become blocked, resulting in decreased blood flow to the brain and the development of vascular dementia. Since the human brain requires a lot of oxygen to function properly, the reduced blood supply to the brain can be life-threatening.
Loss of memory
Since blood flow to the brain is reduced in people with hypertension, they can experience slow thinking, memory loss, and comprehension problems.
Once hypertension is diagnosed, it is treatable – changes in diet and medicine are the mainstays of hypertension treatment.
Below we look at the two as methods of hypertension treatment.
Changes to lifestyle
A safe lifestyle is one of the most effective ways to combat hypertension. When it comes to fighting hypertension, it’s important to keep your health in check.
Below are some simple ways on how you can make sure you are living healthy:
- Regular exercising to lose weight if you are overweight.
- Avoiding smoking.
- Eating healthy foods with a well-balanced diet.
- Reducing your intake of sodium.
- Reducing the amount of alcohol you consume.
Medication
Blood pressure medications are often different depending on your age and health. Your doctor should be able to advise you about which hypertension medications to take. When it comes to finding the right medicines for you, it can be a bit of a trial and error process, but using two or three drugs to treat hypertension can be more successful than just using one.
Some medication used to treat blood pressure include:
Diuretics
Diuretics are drugs that help the kidneys excrete sodium from your body. The majority of these medications are used to treat hypertension. Diuretics come in a variety of forms, and depending on your circumstances, your doctor can recommend the one that is best for you.
Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs)
These are medications that relax the blood vessels by blocking the action that leads to the narrowing of the blood vessels. ARBs include candesartan, losartan, and many others.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
These drugs work by preventing the development of a chemical that causes blood vessels to constrict.
Calcium channel blockers
Calcium channel blockers aid in the relaxation of blood vessel muscles. Some of these medications often cause the heart rate to slow down. Calcium channel blockers are more effective than ACE inhibitors for older adults and people of African descent.
Alpha-blockers
The effects of natural chemicals that narrow blood vessels are reduced by alpha-blockers, which limit nerve signals to blood vessels.
Alpha-beta blockers
These drugs block nerve impulses from reaching blood vessels and slow the pulse, reducing the amount of blood pumped into the vessels.
Since patients often do not have any symptoms, it is important to get checked regularly for hypertension. High blood pressure is a deadly killer, and many people don’t realize they have it. Treatment for hypertension is typically very effective though, improving your health quickly and lowering your risk of stroke or heart failure.
Treatment for hypertension also helps protect your kidneys, which are important organs for removing toxins from your body. Treatment for hypertension also increases your quality of life and lengthens your lifespan.
You would not suffer from cardiovascular problems if you lower your blood pressure and keep it under control. Another advantage of treating hypertension is that it will save you time and money in the long run.
Every year, hypertension kills a large number of people. People must seek medical advice and receive a diagnosis. People should not take high blood pressure for granted because it is treatable if detected early. It’s always a good idea to keep your body in good shape and monitor your blood pressure on a regular basis.