Why worry about high blood pressure? If I am not suffering from it. Right?
Or it is only a disease of older and overweight people. Thoughts like these, can surely, make you a bit careless about health. However, High Blood Pressure shouldn’t be taken lightly. According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, about 75 million of us (every 1 out of 3 adults) are suffering from High Blood Pressure. It is one of the major causes of stroke and heart attack but unfortunately, most of us don’t even know. High Blood Pressure or Hypertension is being considered a “Global Health Concern” in developing countries and is ironically least studied in these countries as well.
Table of Contents
What is High Blood Pressure?
High Blood Pressure or Hypertension is a serious medical condition, which is dangerous for the Heart. It makes your heart harder to pump blood throughout the body. This pressure put a strain on the arteries of the heart by hardening the arteries and leading to severe cardiac disorders such as atherosclerosis, angina, stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, heart failure and even kidney diseases.
High Blood Pressure issues usually develop over the years and you might not be able to notice its signs and symptoms. However, even without signs and symptoms, high blood pressure can seriously damage your various body organs. For this very reason, early detection of High Blood Pressure is important. Regular check-ups can be helpful in maintaining your blood pressure and thus a healthy heart. If the issue still persists you need to consult your doctor.
High Blood Pressure Symptoms
High Blood Pressure is one of the silent health issues because many people might not experience any signs and symptoms. It may take years for symptoms to appear, but it’ll also be in severe cases. These symptoms would further highlight other health issues.
Some signs and symptoms of severe cases of high blood pressure are:
- Chest Pain
- Nosebleeds
- Headaches
- Shortness of Breath
- Dizziness
- Flushing
- Blood in the Urine
- Visual Changes
In case of these symptoms, you need to consult your doctor as soon as possible because delay in this disease can be fatal.
Now, here are the few things that you need to know about high blood pressure, as these 5 things will clear you many ambiguities.
5 Things You Need To Know About High Blood Pressure
1. Silent Killer
You might be suffering from high bp, but you may don’t even know about it. For this reason, high blood pressure is often known as “Silent Killer” and a hidden health issue. The signs and symptoms rarely appear and even if they appear, it is always with the severe case of high blood pressure. You may appear healthy but might be suffering from high blood pressure, so reach out to your doctor to get to know about your potential risk.
2. Young People Are No Exception
Yes, you have read it right. Young people too can have high blood pressure. It doesn’t just happen to adults only. This can be due to a family history of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or any other illness. About 1 out of 4 men, and 1 out of 5 women between the ages of 35-44 years of age suffer from high blood pressure issues. Researchers further state that the risk of stroke is increasing in young people and is directly related to other health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
3. Unique Risk of High BP in Women
Women who suffer from high blood pressure, are more prone to difficulties during pregnancy than those who have normal blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause organ damage to pregnant women and even at times result in early delivery and low birth weight. Certain methods of birth control also increase the risk of high blood pressure in women. So, pregnant women should consult their health provider to maintain or reduce their blood pressure to normal to avoid severe complications.
4. Dementia and High Blood Pressure
Research has shown that high bP increases the link of dementia or memory loss, which is a loss of the cognitive function. Other studies further highlight that this risk of dementia is greater when a person is suffering from uncontrolled high blood pressure during 45-65 years of age. So, if you still think high blood pressure is just any other simple health issue, you need to ponder over it.
5. Regular Exercise Reduces Your Risk of High Blood Pressure
Don’t have time for exercise? You are risking your life, as not doing regular exercise increases your risk of high blood pressure. This one reason is enough to make you go physically active. All you need is just 150 minute of moderate exercise a week. Walking daily for 25-30 minutes also proved to be beneficial for maintaining bp.
High Blood Pressure Treatment
In the end, the treatment of High BP includes both healthy lifestyle changes and properly prescribed medication. If this illness isn’t treated timely, it can lead to stroke and heart attack. For proper consultation, you can always reach out to a medical practitioner to get yourself checked.
