High blood pressure: Facts You need to know

Hypertension, also known
as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood
pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. However, this is a major
risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, arterial
fibrillation, peripheral arterial disease, vision loss and chronic kidney
disease.

High blood pressure is
usually classified as primary or secondary hypertension. About 90-95% of cases
are primary. Primary hypertension is usually defined as high blood pressure due
to nonspecific lifestyle and genetic factors while the secondary hypertension
is defined as high blood pressure due to identifiable cause, such as chronic
kidney disease, narrowing of the kidney arteries, etc.

Measurement
of blood pressure

Blood pressure is
expressed by two measurements, the systolic and diastolic pressures, which are
the maximum and the minimum pressures respectively.

Blood pressure measurement.
	Normal (at rest)	Abnormal
Systolic	100-130 (mmHg)	>130 (mmHg)
Diastolic	60-80 (mmHg)	>80 (mmHg)

Note that these
measurements might slightly be higher or lower depending on geographical
locations. Also, different numbers apply to children.

Signs
and symptoms

Hypertension is rarely
accompanied with symptoms, and it’s usually identified through screening. Some
people with high blood pressure usually report symptoms such as:

• Headaches (particularly at the back of the
  head and in the morning)
• Lightheadedness
• Vertigo (when a person has the sensation
  of moving, or seeing surrounding objects which are not moving as though they
  were moving)
• Tinnitus (buzzing or hissing in the ear)
• Altered vision or fainting episodes.

Hypertensive
crisis

This
is a condition in which the blood pressure is severely elevated (equal to or
greater than 180mmHg (systolic) and 110mmHg (diastolic)). It may either involve
damage to some organs including the brain, kidney, heart and lungs resulting
from elevated blood pressure (hypertensive emergency) or not (hypertensive
urgency).

Causes

The causes of high blood
pressure will be classified based on the two types of hypertension.

     For primary hypertension, causes include:

• Age
• Environmental factors such as location and
  weather condition.
• High salt intake
• Lack of exercise
• Central obesity
• High consumption of caffeine

For secondary
hypertension (high blood pressure resulting from identifiable cause), causes
may include:

• Kidney disease (the most common cause of
  secondary hypertension)
• Cushion’s syndrome, or acromegaly, or
  other endocrine conditions.
• Obesity
•  Pregnancy
• Sleep apnea etc.

Prevention
of hypertension.

Lifestyle changes are
recommended for the prevention of hypertension. An outline with the proposed lifestyle
changes by the US National High Blood Pressure Education Program for the
primary prevention of hypertension:

• Maintain normal body weight for adults (body
  mass index between 20-25kg/m²)
• Reduction in dietary sodium intake
• Engage in regular aerobic physical activity
  such as brisk walking (for at least 30min per day for most days of the week)
•  Limit alcohol consumption
• Consume diets rich in fruits and
  vegetables.

Management
of hypertension.

Management
of high blood pressure is targeted towards lowering the blood pressure and
keeping it within normal range and also prevention of possible complications
that might arise from the condition. The management approach to hypertension
involves:

Lifestyle
modification: this is the first line of treatment of
hypertension. This includes:

Dietary
changes: diets with low sodium, vegetarian diets and green tea
consumption. Also increasing dietary potassium intake has potential to lower
the blood pressure. Adopting a dietary pattern such as DASH diet or
Mediterranean diet. The DASH diet is the most suitable. DASH diet means Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is a simple diet and can be easily followed
and it entails that you:

Ø Eat
more fruits, vegetables and cow fat dairy foods

Ø  Cut
back on foods that are high in saturated fats, cholesterol and trans fats

Ø  Eat
more whole grain foods, fish, poultry and nuts

Ø  Limit
sodium, sweets, sugary drinks and red meats.

 

Physical
exercise: such as isometric resistance exercise, aerobic
exercise, etc.

Medications:
antihypertensive
medications of various classes are available for the management of the
condition. Contact you doctor for the appropriate prescription and treatment.

 

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SAFE, STAY HEALTHY.