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HYPERTENSION

 

High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.

Types

There are two types of high blood pressure.

 
Primary (essential) hypertension

For most adults, there's no identifiable cause of high blood pressure. This type of high blood pressure, called primary (essential) hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years.

 
Secondary hypertension

Some people have high blood pressure caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood pressure than primary hypertension.

 

Symptoms

A few people with high blood pressure may have:

  • Headache - usually, this will last for several days.

  • Nausea - a sensation of unease and discomfort in the stomach with an urge to vomit.

  • Vomiting - less common than just nausea.

  • Dizziness - Lightheadedness, unsteadiness, and vertigo.

  • Blurred or double vision (diplopia).

  • Epistaxis - nosebleeds.

  • Palpitations - disagreeable sensations of irregular and/or forceful beating of the heart.

  • Dyspnea - breathlessness, shortness of breath.

 

Risk factors

High blood pressure has many risk factors, including:

  • Age

  • Race

  • Family history

  • Not being physically active

  • Using tobacco

  • Too much salt (sodium) in your diet

  • Too little potassium in your diet

  • Too little vitamin D in your diet

  • Drinking too much alcohol

  • Diabetes

  • Stress.

Healthy Lifestyle to Adopt

  • Eating a healthier diet with less salt

  • Exercising regularly

  • Quitting smoking

  • Limiting the amount of alcohol you drink

  • Limit caffeine intake

  • Maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight if you're overweight or obese

  • Reduce stress as much as possible.

 

Treatment

High blood pressure isn't a problem that you can treat and then ignore. It's a condition you need to manage for the rest of your life.

 

Treatment for high blood pressure depends on several factors, such as its severity, associated risks of developing stroke or cardiovascular, disease, etc.

 

 

Culled from Staywellworld blog post dated June 01, 2017.

To learn more, click on 

https://www.staywellworld.org/post/2017/06/01/high-blood-pressure-hypertension-a-silent-killer

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