High blood pressure or hypertension is a common health issue affecting both men and women. It refers to a condition whereby blood flows through the blood vessels at higher than normal pressures. This is a common disease that affects millions of people across the globe.
People suffering from this condition usually use dangerous beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors drugs, as well as diuretics, to treat high blood pressure. Patients are also required to reduce their salt intake.
However, these remedies are often for the short-term and they don’t address the root cause of the problem.
Sometimes, individuals will display zero signs of blood pressure symptoms, even when their blood pressure has reached fatal levels.
Blood pressure exhibits two different pressures when measured:
Systolic pressure – The blood pressure when the heart beats as it pumps blood
Diastolic pressure – The blood pressure between beats; when the heart is resting
Here are the blood pressure ranges:
- Normal: Lower than 120/80
- Prehypertension: 120–139/80–89
- Stage 1 high blood pressure: 140–159/90–99
- Stage 2 high blood pressure: 160 and above/100 and above
Warning signs for very high blood include headaches, nosebleeds, chest pains, ear noise, vision changes, and confusion.
It is imperative that you always keep your blood pressure in check. This is because at the age of 50, individuals with normal blood pressure have a longer life expectancy (by over 5 years) than those with high blood pressure.
Complications of Hypertension
High blood pressure raises your risk for grave conditions such as:
Memory issues: Hypertension seriously affects cognitive abilities, such as remembering, learning, and reasoning.
Chronic heart failure: 70{bf1db9e94a8334375210e770483f48898980192a45cfa146638fb967889224e3} of individuals with chronic heart failure suffer from high blood pressure.
Eye complications: High blood pressure can also affect vision causing thickened, narrowed and torn blood vessels in the eyes.
Aneurism: High blood pressure leads to bulging and weakening of your blood vessels. This causes aneurism rupture, which is life-threatening.
First stroke: 70{bf1db9e94a8334375210e770483f48898980192a45cfa146638fb967889224e3} individuals are affected with hypertension when they have their first heart attack.
Metabolic syndrome: High blood pressure is also linked to high triglyceride levels, high blood sugar, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure or low HDL (good) cholesterol. The risk of metabolic syndrome increases with increase in blood pressure symptoms.
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High Blood Pressure v/s Low Blood Pressure
Generally, the risk of low blood pressure and high blood pressure increases with age.
Here are some significant facts about high blood pressure that you need to know:
- Prehypertension is a blood pressure that’s unusually higher, but not yet in the high blood pressure bracket.
- About 70 million people in the U.S. have high blood pressure.
- Only 52{bf1db9e94a8334375210e770483f48898980192a45cfa146638fb967889224e3} of people with high blood pressure have the condition under control.
- High blood pressure costs the United States about $64 billion every year.
Here are a few stats that you need to know about low blood pressure:
- Blood flow to heart muscle and brain declines with age as a result of plague build up in the blood vessels.
- Low blood pressure leads to light headedness and dizziness because there’s reduced blood supply to the brain.
- 10{bf1db9e94a8334375210e770483f48898980192a45cfa146638fb967889224e3} – 20{bf1db9e94a8334375210e770483f48898980192a45cfa146638fb967889224e3} of people over 65 suffer from postural hypotension or orthostatic hypotension, which is a sudden drop of blood pressure. It appears when you suddenly rise from a sitting position. On the other hand, neural hypotension is a type of low blood pressure that occurs when standing for a long time.
- In general, chronic low blood pressure with no symptoms is not serious.
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You need to take Low blood pressure seriously if you notice these symptoms:
- Dehydration and abnormal thirst
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Cold, clammy, pale skin
- Fainting
- Depression
- Nausea
- Poor concentration
- Blurred vision
Low blood pressure often occurs with:
- Decrease in blood volume
- Pregnancy
- Prolonged bed rest
- Some medications, like diuretics, beta blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, erectile dysfunction drugs, drugs for Parkinson’s disease, narcotics and alcohol.
- Heart complications
- Severe infection (septic shock)
- Neurally mediated hypertension
- Endocrine problems
- Allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
- Nutritional deficiencies – For instance, lack of folic acid and vitamin B12 can cause anemia, leading to low blood pressure.
Foods That Worsen High Blood Pressure Symptoms
Sugar – According to several studies, high sugar consumption increases the risk of high blood pressure.
High sodium foods – You should eliminate high sodium processed and canned foods from your diet.
Alcohol- Alcohol narrows your arteries, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, and hence you need to reduce your intake or avoid it altogether.
Caffeine- If you’ve high blood pressure, consider reducing your caffeine intake as it raises blood pressure.
Trans fats and omega 6-fats- These increase inflammation and blood pressure. They are common in packaged foods.
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