Hypertension, also called high blood pressure, can quietly cause extensive damage to your body for quite some time before signs of the condition appear, which is one reason why it’s a major health concern.
If left untreated, hypertension can affect vital organs like your kidneys, heart and brain. It’s also deadly and known as a silent killer because there’s often no warning signals.
Blood pressure is the pressure of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Arteries carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day, but it can damage your heart and cause health problems if it stays high for a long time.”
Getting high blood pressure under control is essential for your overall health and literally could be a matter of life or death. However, many people with hypertension don’t know they have it.
About 1 in 3 adults with high blood pressure aren’t even aware they have it and are not being treated to control their blood pressure. Measuring your blood pressure is the only way to determine you have the condition.
Elevated blood pressure can affect anyone at any age. There are several factors that can increase your risk for developing the disease including age, family history, smoking, and living a non-active lifestyle.
High blood pressure develops over time, and is especially common because of unhealthy lifestyle choices including poor diet and a lack of exercise. People with medical conditions such as diabetes and high cholesterol, are often at risk of developing high blood pressure.
Over time elevated blood pressure will damage the arteries carrying oxygen and blood to the heart. If not treated, arteries can become stiff, reducing the amount of blood and oxygen to the heart and the rest of the body. High blood pressure forces the heart to work harder to pump blood to the rest of the body. This causes the lower left heart chamber (left ventricle) to thicken. A thickened left ventricle increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure and sudden cardiac death.
High blood pressure can cause the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain to burst or be blocked, causing a stroke. Brain cells die during a stroke because they do not get enough oxygen. Stroke can cause serious disabilities in speech, movement, and other basic activities. A stroke can also kill you…Adults with diabetes, high blood pressure, or both have a higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease than those
In addition, high blood pressure has been linked to dementia, with evidence suggesting that having uncontrolled high blood pressure during midlife (ages 44 to 66) creates a higher risk for dementia later in life.
A blood pressure reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher is considered hypertension. It’s important to know, some people will not experience any warning signs or classic symptoms such as chest pain, and difficulty breathing until the disease has progressed. Vision changes, headache, and frequent nose bleeds are also hidden signs of high blood pressure.
However, some people may have symptoms. Symptoms can include chest pain, difficulty, breathing, and dizziness. This can be a sign of an emergency, so if anyone is having these symptoms, they should be contacting a healthcare provider.
Fortunately, there are several things you can do. Try to invest in healthier food such as spinach, carrots, and bananas – as it’s been well documented they can lower your blood pressure.
Keep moving! Staying active keeps your heart strong and allows your blood to pump better throughout the body, which can help lower your overall blood pressure.”
Many people with high blood pressure can lower their blood pressure into a healthy range or keep their numbers in a healthy range by making lifestyle changes.
(Source: – Royal Coast Review)