High blood pressure is a common chronic disease, but it is also known as the “silent killer” because it goes on silently, and patients barely recognize the signs of hypertension. The following article will help you better understand this disease as well as the signs to help you recognize high blood pressure. Let’s take a closer look at the symptoms of high blood pressure in this article!
Hypertension is a chronic disease that occurs when the blood pressure on the artery walls is higher than normal. According to the 2010 guidelines for hypertension treatment of the Ministry of Health, hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure > 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure >= 90 mmHg.
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Causes of high blood pressure
Most hypertension in adults has no known cause (primary hypertension), with only about 10% of cases having a cause (secondary hypertension). The cause of hypertension can be discovered through history taking, physical examination, and routine laboratory findings. Some cases of hypertension that need attention to find the cause include hypertension at a young age (<30 years old), resistant hypertension, and advanced or malignant hypertension.
Common causes of secondary hypertension include:
- Acute or chronic kidney disease: Acute/chronic glomerulonephritis, interstitial nephritis, nephrolithiasis, polycystic kidney, hydronephrosis, renal failure
- Renal artery stenosis
- Adrenal myeloma
- Primary hyperaldosteronism (Conn’s syndrome)
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Thyroid/parathyroid disease, pituitary gland
- Drug-related, drug-related (Non-steroid anti-inflammatory, oral contraceptives, corticosteroids, …)
- Toxic pregnancy
- Mental factor
Warning signs of high blood pressure
High blood pressure is the leading cause of heart attack, stroke, and even death for patients, but high blood pressure has almost no signs of recognition. That’s why THA is also known as the “silent killer”. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is through regular blood pressure checks. This is especially important if you have a loved one who also has high blood pressure.
If your blood pressure is elevated, there are several signs of hypertension that you need to look out for:
- Headache
- Nosebleed
- Blood in the eye or conjunctival hemorrhage
- Numbness or tingling of the extremities
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dizziness
- Heart attack
Also, blood pressure can rise without any symptoms.
Factors that make High blood pressure
Age: The risk of hypertension goes with age, especially in people 45 years of age and older
Family history: Your risk of developing high blood pressure is increased if someone in your family also has high blood pressure
Overweight, obesity: The more you weigh, the more blood you need to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to tissues and organs. As the volume of blood circulating through the blood vessels increases, so does the blood pressure on the artery walls.
Inactive: People who are sedentary tend to have a higher heart rate, the higher the heart rate, the harder your heart has to work, with each contraction, the greater the force on the arteries, the greater the blood pressure. higher pressure. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight.
Smoking: Smoking not only increases blood pressure temporarily, but the chemicals in the smoke also damage the walls of blood vessels, which causes the arteries to narrow, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Passive smoking also increases your risk of heart disease.
Eat a lot of foods that contain salt: Too much salt in your diet causes your body to increase water retention, causing high blood pressure.
Lack of potassium in the diet: Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your body, without enough potassium, you will accumulate too much sodium in the blood.
Drinking a lot of beer and alcohol: Alcohol causes high blood pressure and increases the risk of heart disease due to blood pressure.
Stress: A lot of stress can also cause a temporary increase in blood pressure.
Chronic diseases: Some chronic diseases are also at risk of causing high blood pressure such as kidney disease, diabetes, and sleep apnea.
Harmful effects of high blood pressure
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to the following complications:
Heart attack, stroke: High blood pressure causes hardening and thickening of the blood vessels (atherosclerosis), which can lead to heart attack, stroke, or other complications.
Aneurysm: Increased blood pressure causes the wall of the vessel to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If a blood vessel ruptures, it can be life-threatening.
Heart failure: To pump blood against the high pressure in the walls of your arteries, your heart has to work harder, leading to left ventricular hypertrophy. When the heart muscle thickens, it becomes difficult to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, which can lead to heart failure.
Renal failure due to the risk of renal artery narrowing in hypertension
Retinal hemorrhage
Metabolic syndrome: This syndrome includes a group of disorders of your body’s metabolism, including increased waist circumference, increased triglycerides, decreased HDL-C (good cholesterol), and high insulin levels. These disorders make you more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
Brain complications: Narrowed arteries make it difficult for blood to flow to the brain, leading to stroke, brain hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, and dementia.
Final thought
Hypertension is a chronic disease, so it needs regular monitoring, proper and sufficient daily treatment, and long-term follow-up. Besides the drug treatment according to the doctor’s protocol, lifestyle changes are also the treatment measures applied to all patients to prevent disease progression and complications;
Monitoring can gradually reduce the amount of medication needed when blood pressure is well controlled.
Lifestyle changes in the treatment of high blood pressure include:
– A reasonable diet, ensuring enough potassium and trace elements, reducing salt intake, increasing green vegetables, and fresh fruits, and limiting foods high in cholesterol and saturated fatty acids.
– Actively control weight if overweight, maintain ideal weight with body mass index BMI from 18.5 to 22.9 kg/m2. Maintain a waist circumference of less than 90cm in men and less than 80cm in women.
– Limiting alcohol intake
– Stop smoking completely
– Increase physical activity at an appropriate level: exercise, walk, or exercise at a moderate level, regularly about 30-60 minutes a day
– Avoid anxiety, nervous tension, need to relax, have a reasonable rest
High blood pressure is a silent process, with few symptoms, but can cause serious complications. Therefore, early recognition of the signs of high blood pressure makes the treatment simpler.
Top News hopes that this article can help you learn more about the symptoms of high blood pressure and take good care of your health to lead a healthy life.
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