Acute Signs And Symptoms Of Hypertension

Hypertension, commonly known as 'High Blood Pressure', is a disease of the heart. Blood pressure is the force with which the blood pushes against the arteries as it reaches the other parts of the body. If the force with which the blood pushes against the arteries is too great, the arteries can get damaged. Blood pressure is measure with the help of two measures; systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure measures cardiac output and refers to the pressure in the arterial system at its highest. Diastolic pressure measures peripheral resistance and refers to arterial pressure at its lowest. Blood pressure is normally measured at the brachial artery with a sphygmomanometer (pressure cuff) in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and given as systolic over diastolic pressure.

Hypertension is, thus, a reading of 140/90 on three consecutive such measurements that are placed six hours apart. Hypertension or high blood pressure causes the heart work harder than normal to pump blood through the body and as a result, coronary arteries, kidneys, the brain and the eyes all suffer damage.

Signs and Symptoms Of Hypertension:

Many people with hypertension are not aware of the fact that they have hypertension because the symptoms are not as clinically obvious as other diseases. Often, the patient finds out when the hypertension leads to some other complications. The bottom line remains that high blood pressure has no clinical symptoms. For this very reason it is often called the 'Silent Killer'. Still there are a few tell tale signs that should clue you on the possibility that you may have hypertension.

1. Family History: if you have a family history of hypertension, you should be more active in having your blood pressure checked regularly. Of course, it's not necessary that family history lead to hypertension, but being cautious under these circumstances may save you from future complications.

2. Non-Clinical Symptoms: there are some non-clinical symptoms as well that may be indicators of hypertension, but again, not necessarily. If you have frequent occurrences or severe spells of headache, Nosebleed (Epistaxis), Breathlessness, sleepiness, Insomnia, confusion, or fatigue, you should go for a clinical check-up for hypertension. These symptoms may occur with a person who has normal blood pressure as well, so having any one of these symptoms doesn't mean that you have hypertension, it just means you should go for a checkup.

Acute Hypertension:

Acute or severe hypertension is rare. But hypertension that remains untreated for longer periods of time is dangerous. It can lead to damage to the brain, kidneys and the eyes. Hypertension is also the leading cause of stroke. If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, your physician will require you to focus on both medication as well as lifestyle changes. For instance, it's important that individuals with hypertension quit smoking and take a reasonable bit of exercise on a daily basis. A general rule is to take a 30 minute walk every day.

Being on the lookout for hypertension is not paranoia since studies have shown that one in every three Americans has hypertension. The sooner you find out about this, the better chance you have of eliminating the problem and saving yourself from any organ damage.

• Felicia Byrnes
• 22/01/2009, 8:59 AM
• 0 Comments