Hypertension is a salient condition when the pressure of blood circulation in the human body bumps up. Any age group of people can suffer from hypertension however the risk increases as you get older until 55. Hypertension is one of the major dangerous health problems around the world. It is so dangerous that if it’s not controlled in time it may cause many cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and many more. Accordingly, it is crucial for the vast majority of individuals to be aware of the signs, causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hypertension.
What Is Hypertension?
Well, all have blood pressure right? In simple words, it is the force of blood circulation pressing upon artery walls while the heart contracts and relaxes. The average blood pressure level of a normal human being is around 120/80 mmHg. Low blood pressure is when the blood pressure of a human body reaches below 90/60mmHg, also called “hypotension” in medical terms. Similarly, when the blood pressure increase and reach 140/90 mm or above it is called high blood pressure. We generally call it hypertension in medical terms.
This has become a major public health challenge because it is affecting nearly 1.3 billion people and killing almost 10 million people worldwide every year.
Symptoms Of Hypertension
The most horrific thing about hypertension and hypotension is that it doesn’t show any noticeable symptoms or illness until it affects any body organ. That’s the reason why we usually call it a ‘silent killer’. The only way to know you are suffering from hypertension is by regularly measuring your blood pressure. Though it doesn’t show any symptoms easily, a person having severe high blood pressure may face the below symptoms.
- Serious headache
- Chest pain
- Difficulty in breathing
- Blood from urine
- Irregular heartbeat
- Sweating
- Feeling nervous
- Dizziness and many more.
Causes Of Hypertension
There is no one distinct cause of high blood pressure, it comes over time. However, some of the common causes of hypertension might be kidney disease, thyroid problems, diabetes, smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs. Some other causes are listed below.
- You are also lime to have hypertension if your parents have.
- Being overweight and obese also increases blood pressure.
- Lack of exercise.
- Taking more salt and less potassium.
- Pregnancy
- Mental stress.
How Is Hypertension Diagnosed?
You might never know whether you are suffering from hypertension or not until it’s severe. The only way to know is to have a regular checkup from a doctor, health specialist, or even by yourself. It is recommended that your blood pressure needs to be checked at least once in a couple of years. To Diagnose hypertension frequent blood pressure values are used. Some doctors diagnose a patient with blood pressure with high blood pressure for 140/90 mm Hg while others diagnose for 130/80 mm Hg or above.
Notes: Understand the number (130/80 mm Hg)
- The number 130 is the systolic pressure, the pressure of blood against arteries when the heart contracts. It is always greater than diastolic pressure and written on top.
- The number 80 represents the diastolic pressure, the pressure of blood against the artery wall when the heart relaxes.
- mmHg is the millimeters of mercury, the unit of measurement.
What Can I Do To Prevent And Cure Hypertension?
Controlling or curing hypertension is bringing down the blood pressure to the normal range ie 120/80 mm Hg. It can be achieved by adopting a healthy lifestyle, or by taking medication such as diuretics, acebutolol, cardione , etc. According to health pundits, lifestyle plays a critical role in keeping blood pressure under control. Here are some suggestions for changing your way of life.
- Maintain proper body weight or lose some if needed because most of the time weight increase also causes high blood pressure.
- Do regular Physical exercise especially aerobic exercise to reduce high blood pressure. A normal human being should work out at least 30 minutes per day to keep themselves physically as well as mentally fit.
- Proper nutrition can also effectively protect high blood pressure from becoming hypertension. You should buy foods high in protein and mineral resources like potassium. However, you should take a proper amount of potassium for a reason it also has some side effects. It’s best to consult your doctor about how much you should take per day.
- Good sleep, no smoking, no alcohol, reduce emotional stress, and regular blood pressure checkup also helps to prevent and cure hypertension.
- If these measures don’t help then finally you should go for medication. Once you feel like you have high blood pressure you should immediately go to the doctor for a checkup. The doctor might recommend some medicines to control. Make sure you follow the doctor’s prescription properly.
Conclusions
Year after year, millions of individuals die as a result of hypertension. This has become a worldwide health concern. Since it doesn’t have a specific cause and doesn’t even show any symptoms it becomes more dangerous. Therefore it is important to spread awareness among common people about this. We hope our article has made you understand the basics of hypertension and how you can control it.