High blood pressure: symptoms, causes and values

High blood pressure is a health problem that can lead to:

  1. Heart attack
  2. Stroke
  3. Renal failure.

An arterial blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or above is referred to as high.

Contents

Normal arterial hypertension in men

Normal blood pressure in an adult male is 115/75, while in children it is lower.

Table: Blood pressure values

Diastolic –
mmHg
Systolic –
mmHg
Normal< 80< 120
Prehypertension< 80120/129
First-degree hypertension80/89130/139
Second degree hypertension≥ 90≥ 140
hypertensive crisis> 120> 180

A positive family history of arterial hypertension and obesity can increase the risk of high blood pressure.

Causes of sudden arterial hypertension

  • The most common reasons for increasing upper and lower blood pressure include anxiety and stress.
  • Stress or anxiety causes the release of some hormones that accelerate the pumping power of the heart due to the contraction of blood vessels.
  • Another cause of the instantaneous arterial pressure increase may be severe pain
  • Stabbing and sudden pain can increase blood pressure and heart rate.
  • pregnancy; sudden arterial hypertension in pregnancy can also be caused by a serious condition called preeclampsia.
  • Highly salted foods,
  • hormone imbalance,
  • Too much coffee,
  • Some medications,
  • Kidney disease.

Why does smoking increase blood pressure?

Smoking harms the cardiovascular system because it suddenly increases:

  • Blood pressure (due to the increase in heartbeat and arterial peripheral artery resistance),
  • The heartbeat (because the oxygen content in the blood is reduced and the heart increases its frequency to compensate).

In hypertensive patients, the effect of beta-blockers (drugs used to lower blood pressure) may be partially reduced by tobacco smoking, while alpha-blockers appear to preserve the hypotensive effect in smokers.

Source: Omvik P – (Medical Department A, University of Bergen, School of Medicine, Haukeland Hospital, Norway)

Blood vessels: Cigarettes are made of tobacco and contain nicotine and other toxic chemical substances.

Die Wirkung auf den Blutdruck wird vor allem durch das Nikotin hervorgerufen.

Nach 20 Minuten kehrt der Blutdruck zu seiner normalen Lage zurück.

Blutzusammensetzung: Mit der Zeit verändert Nikotin die Qualität des Blutes, das im Körper fließt.

Erhöhung des Cholesterinspiegels und des Fibrinogens (Protein des Blutplasmas, das sich zu Fibrin umwandelt, wenn das Blut gerinnt).

Gefahren von Bluthochdruck

Die Gefahren von Bluthochdruck sind Erkrankungen:

  1. Des Herzens,
  2. Der Nieren,
  3. Der Augen,
  4. Des Gehirns.

The heart is an organ that pumps blood to all parts of the body and where elevated blood pressure can cause cardiac damage.

This is one of the main risk factors in relation to a heart attack.

Increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure can lead to myocardial infarction in a person who already suffers from coronary artery ischemia and atherosclerosis.

High blood pressure exerts strong pressure on the artery walls.

Over time, this pressure can damage the arteries and in the damaged areas, the formation of atherosclerotic plaques is likely.

These structures limit or block the blood flow to the heart muscle, which thereby receives no oxygen.

Among the consequences of hypertension is dilated cardiomyopathy, which is an enlargement of the left ventricle of the heart caused by the overload of the organ.

Enlargement of the left ventricle is a risk factor for heart failure.

Nephritic

The kidneys are two organs that:

  • Purify the blood,
  • Excrete excessive fluid.

Hypertension affects the blood vessels and the organ with the organ structures located in them.

An aneurysm may form in the renal arteries due to high blood pressure.

The aneurysm rupture can lead to severe internal bleeding.

Another danger of arterial hypertension is renal insufficiency, which is caused by damage to the large arteries leading to the organs and the smallest internal blood vessels.

Hypertension can lead to renal fibrosis or glomerulosclerosis, which in turn leads to renal insufficiency.

This condition affects the internal blood vessels of the kidneys, which filter the waste products from the body.

Hypertension and the eyes

Arterial hypertension can damage the fine blood vessels that carry blood to the retina, causing retinopathy.

This circumstance can cause:

  1. bleeding in the eyes,
  2. blurred vision,
  3. Complete loss of vision.

If the affected patient also suffers from diabetes, the risk is much greater.

Optic neuropathy – The reduced blood flow damages the optic nerve.

This can cause:

  • death of nerve cells of the eyes,
  • Vision loss.

Choroidopathy – accumulation of fluid under the retina due to injury to a blood vessel in the choroid.

Choroidopathy can cause blurred vision or, in some cases, fibrosis that reduces vision.

Damage to the brain

The brain depends on continuous blood flow to function properly and survive.

Hypertension can cause various problems, including:

Stroke. A stroke occurs when part of the brain is left without oxygen and nutrients.

This leads to the death of brain cells.

Hypertension damages and weakens the blood vessels of the brain, thereby cautious:

  • Shrinkage
  • rupture of a vessel,
  • Bleedings.

Hypertension can also lead to the formation of blood clots in the cerebral arteries, thus hindering blood circulation.

Dementia. Dementia is a disease of the brain that leads to problems in:

  • Think
  • Conversation
  • Argument
  • Memory
  • Eyesight
  • Movement.

Vessel-related dementia can lead to narrowing and blockage of the arteries that carry blood to the brain, or to a stroke.

What are the symptoms of high blood pressure? How to recognize hypertension?

In most cases, hypertension proceeds without symptoms.

However, some patients may develop symptoms of high blood pressure or diseases that cause it. These include:

  1. Frequent headaches are a sign of increased blood pressure.
  1. Dizziness – Dizziness can occur with very high blood pressure.
  2. Sudden vision loss is a rare disorder but can be caused by hypertension.
  3. Epistaxisis is an acute bleeding from the nose, nasal cavity or nasopharynx.
  4. Hypertension and severe epistaxis are more common in the elderly.
  5. exercise dyspnea (in case of heart failure),
  6. weight gain (in Cushing’s syndrome),
  7. Blood in the urine (in case of kidney disease).

To make a diagnosis, the doctor uses a blood pressure monitor, but you can also buy a blood pressure monitor that automatically measures the pressure.

Increase in blood pressure after eating

After a meal, the main function of the body is to break down and absorb the food consumed. This process is called digestion.

For digestion, the body needs plenty of oxygen, which is why the blood flow to the stomach increases.

The body signals to the heart that greater blood flow to the gastrointestinal system is required, so cardiac output must be increased.

However, this is not enough and the arteries cause an increase in pressure to increase blood flow.

Blood pressure returns to normal once digestion is complete.

Salty foods lead to an overload of the heart, as sodium causes water retention and thus increases the total blood volume.

The result is an increase in pressure.

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