Impact of Hypertension on Your Body
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a disease that causes the blood pressure in the arteries to become elevated for a long period of time.
Blood pressure is the force of blood as it pushes up against the walls of the blood vessels and travels throughout the body.
If the pressure is higher than normal, it makes the heart pump harder. This can lead to organ damage and several illnesses such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and aneurysms.
What are the symptoms of hypertension?
Hypertension can cause: headaches, vision problems, dizziness, or shortness of breath now and then.
Most people who suffer from hypertension are unaware that they have the condition.
Hypertension is recognized as a condition that can kill people suddenly and without warning.
During a regular medical checkup, it may be detected that hypertension is present when your blood pressure is taken.
What causes hypertension?
There are some common causes including narrowing of the arteries, an excessive volume of blood, or the heart beating faster or more forcefully than normal.
There is NO cure for high blood pressure, but it can be prevented and treated.
What is the treatment for hypertension?
In general, hypertension can be treated by taking medications, or by changing your lifestyle, or combining the two.
There are a wide variety of drugs that can be used to treat hypertension.
The usual medications include ACE inhibitors, ARB (angiotensin receptor blockers), beta-blockers, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, alpha-blockers, and peripheral vasodilators in the treatment of hypertension.
Some medications can be taken individually or with others. Some are required to be used with other medications.
Some of these drugs are used more frequently than others, depending on the patients’ conditions.
Besides medication therapy, there are other factors that need to be implemented.
We should make some big changes to our lifestyle, such as: losing weight, giving up smoking, eating a healthy diet, reducing sodium intake, exercising more, and drinking less alcohol.
