Hypertension FAQs: Answers to Your High Blood Pressure Questions

27 Jul, 2021

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.

Source

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.