High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is referred to in the medical world as the silent killer. High blood pressure is referred to as the silent killer because it does not have any clear-cut symptoms, sneaking up on patients from behind, and striking once it is too late. If patients do not visit their doctor routinely, where they can have their blood pressure checked, they will never know what their blood pressure numbers look like. Having uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to various health problems including the risk for heart attack and stroke. Doctors determine blood pressure by the amount of blood the heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in the arteries of the patient.
High blood pressure is a condition that develops over a period of many years and will typically affect almost every person at some point during his or her lifetime. Even if a patient’s blood pressure readings reach dangerously high levels they will not experience any symptoms showing the development of the high blood pressure. The rarest of symptoms; dull headaches, nose bleeds, and dizzy spells only show up once high blood pressure has reached an incredibly dangerous and life threatening level.
There is no reason to make a special trip to the doctor’s office to have your blood pressure checked unless you have the life threatening symptoms mentioned earlier. When you visit the doctor for a routine checkup he or she will check your blood pressure as part of the visit, even without you asking for this to be done. The doctor will tell you what your blood pressure reading was and whether or not you have cause for alarm. If your blood pressure reading is higher than the last time the doctor will monitor your blood pressure for the next couple of visits and then determine if medicine is necessary.
There are two main causes of high blood pressure; primary hypertension and secondary hypertension. Primary hypertension is when there is no definitive cause at all. Instead, this condition occurs in 90 to 95 percent of cases across the country and will develop over a period of many years in patients. Secondary hypertension can be caused by certain medications or medical conditions such as kidney abnormalities, tumors of the adrenal gland, congenital heart defects, cold remedies, birth control pills, some prescription drugs, pain relievers, cocaine and amphetamines.
Risk factors for developing high blood pressure include high age, race (African Americans), family history, being overweight, not being physically active, using tobacco, having too much salt in your diet, too little potassium in your diet, too little vitamin D in your diet, drinking too much alcohol, stress and certain chronic conditions. In some cases, but not all of them, pregnancy can be the reason for high blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause damage to the arteries, heart failure, aneurysm, blocked or ruptured blood vessel in the brain, weakened and narrowed blood vessel in the kidney, torn blood vessels in the eyes, metabolic syndrome and troubles with memory and understanding.
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