Hypertension FAQs: Answers to Your High Blood Pressure Questions

Blood pressure is the pressure your
arteries (vessels) bear when the blood travels through them. Although, as a
natural process, your blood pressure fluctuates during the entire day and
night, it is essential to maintain your blood pressure level.
High blood pressure, medically named
hypertension, means your heart is working harder than usual to pump blood
across your body. If your blood pressure is high, it is time to consider it
seriously.
What does the data say about its
occurrence?
Hypertension is a serious medical condition
having the potential to increases the risks of heart, kidney, brain, and other
diseases.
As per an estimation, 1.13 billion people
across the globe have hypertension – two-thirds of which live in low- and
middle-income countries.
Hypertension FAQs – answers to your
questions concerning high blood pressure
What is the difference between normal and
high blood pressure?
Normal blood pressure – systolic pressure
below 120
Elevated blood pressure – systolic pressure
between 120 and 129
When elevated blood pressure goes above the
level of 129, it is called hypertension which further has two stages;
Stage 1 Hypertension - systolic pressure
between 130-139
Stage 2 Hypertension - systolic pressure
140 or above
Is high blood pressure dangerous?
Prehypertension and hypertension stage 1
are warning signs indicating it may increase, reaching a dangerous level if not
taken care of.
Hypertension stage 2 – unfortunately, this
is a reason to worry. Yes, it is dangerous, but you can reduce it to lower
levels with your doctor’s help.
Hypertensive crisis – This stage comes
with a really high, as aforementioned, systolic BP of 140 or above. If your
average BP is 140 or above, you need medical assistance as soon as possible.
What are some common causes of high blood pressure?
In most cases, the cause usually remains
unclear; however, several factors, including poor diet, inactivity, obesity,
genetics, may contribute to its development.
How to check if you have hypertension?
As discussed above, your blood pressure
keeps fluctuating throughout the day, and if you don’t experience any problems
related to blood pressure, you need not check your BP. However, if any of your
close relatives have hypertension issues, you should get your BP checked from
time to time.
Besides, if your BP is consistently high,
it is possible that you experience intense headaches, breathing issues, chest
pain, and some other problems. Are you having any of such symptoms? You want to
get your BP checked as soon as you can.
Usually, you might not see any signs and
symptoms of high blood pressure; that’s why you might not realize when your
blood pressure goes from normal to high. Therefore, it is recommended to get
hypertension diagnosed via a routine checkup by a certified health care provider
or detailed diagnoses by a specialized medical professional, most preferably –
a cardiologist.
How to diagnose high blood pressure?
Given that it doesn’t show any symptoms,
the most appropriate way to get it diagnosed. Your health care provider or the
medical facility you will visit for the diagnosis will use a gauge, an
electronic sensor, and a BP monitor cuff. They will take a few readings at
multiple appointments before they proceed further to diagnosis.
In the case of children and teenagers, doctors
compare their blood pressure readings to the normal reading of other kids, in
most instances, who are of the same sex, age, and height.
Can high blood pressure cause other health
problems?
Yes, high BP can have significant adverse
effects on your health; moreover, it can potentially damage the most vital
organs, including your heart, kidneys, brain, and eyes. Here we discuss some
health problems that may occur due to consistently high blood pressure.
Heart Attack and Heart Disease
High blood pressure can hurt your arteries,
making them less elastic. As a result, the damaged arteries become unable to
keep normal blood pressure, resulting in a decrease in blood flow, further
decreasing the level of oxygen your heart requires, leading to heart disease.
Reduced blood flow can also cause other problems such as:
Chest pain – medically known as
angina.
Heart Attack – It occurs when your
arteries become entirely incapable of providing blood to your heart;
consequently, your heart muscles start to die due to a lack of oxygen. The
intensity of the damage to the heart depends upon the duration blood flow is
blocked.
Heart
failure – in this condition, your heart fails to pump the required
amount of blood and oxygen to other organs.
Stroke and Brain Problems – High blood
pressure can also damage the arteries supplying blood and oxygen to the brain,
causing them to blocked or burst, leading to a stroke. During
a stroke, brain cells die as they do not get the optimum level of oxygen.
Stroke can lead to severe disabilities in
movement, speech, and other essential activities. Need not to mention - a
stroke can also kill a high BP patient.
Kidney Disease
Adults with high blood pressure are more
vulnerable to developing chronic kidney disease than those with normal blood
pressure.
What can you do to avoid high blood
pressure?
In most cases, anyone can manage to lower
their risk for serious health issues by making a few changes in their lifestyle
in order to keep their BP in a range that’s called normal or healthy.
- Increase physical activity – you may work
out for 30 minutes each day, at least five days per week.
- Eat healthy - Eating more fruits,
vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, whole grain products, fish, poultry, nuts,
etc., can help you lower your risk for hypertension.
- If you are a smoker, you may consider
quitting smoking.
- Follow and eat a healthy diet and limit
your consumption of sodium and alcohol.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Try stress management methods to reduce
your stress.
Besides making positive changes to your
lifestyle, some high BP patients might also need medication for blood pressure
management. By taking suitable action to lower your blood pressure, you can
ensure you are safe against cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
What to do if lifestyle changes don’t help?
If you tried improving your diet,
consistently did an adequate workout, and adopted other lifestyle changes, but
still, if you don’t see any reduction in your blood pressure, you may need to
talk to your doctor.
When to call your doctor?
When diagnosed with hypertension, it is
vital to visit your doctor regularly, and they will prescribe you medicines,
helping you lower your BP. However, there might be other reasons also to see
your doctor; for example:
When you take the prescribed medication but
still your blood pressure doesn’t go low.
When you are experiencing one or more side effects
of the medication prescribed to improve high BP.
In these cases, talk to your doctor on an
urgent basis as they will make a few adjustments in your dosage count or
prescribe any other medication suitable to your body type.
Your doctor will also consider the effect
of drugs for high BP on other conditions (if you have any).
In order to reduce the risks of other
health problems caused by hypertension and lower your BP levels, it is highly
advised to consult a reliable doctor and stick to the prescription suggested.
Do you or any of your close relatives or
friends feel high blood pressure? Do you realize a need to see a doctor and
discuss your BP problems? Look no further than CVMedPro. We have a network of
excellent and reliable health care providers who can comprehensively assess
your health conditions and provide further help accordingly. Look for a
professional medical service provider via cvmedpro.com and get the best medical professionals
when in need.
For additional information, feel free to
contact our Customer Service Department at (877) 216-4215 or local:
559.450.6334.
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