High Blood Pressure Symptoms Causes Diet Treatment

Because it matters…Heart disease awareness

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SYMPTOMS CAUSES DIET & TREATMENT

Dr.Armughan Riaz
M.B.B.S, Dip Card
Consultant Cardiologist

 

Common Complications of High Blood Pressure

Common Complications of High Blood Pressure, High blood pressure is associated with several potentially dangerous complications. It causes damage to your arteries, this can result in hardening and thickening of the arteries

Common Complications of High Blood Pressure

 High blood pressure is associated with several potentially dangerous complications. It causes damage to your arteries, this can result in hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications..The higher your blood pressure and the longer it goes uncontrolled, the greater the damage.

1. Heart Attack.
Heart attacks are caused by an interruption of blood flow through the coronary arteries, which supply the heart muscle with oxygen and nutrients. High blood pressure raises the risk of heart attacks and increases the likelihood that a heart attack, if one occurs, will be severe. This increased risk is because high blood pressure both stresses the heart – makes it work harder than normal – and contributes to the formation of blockages that can disrupt blood flow.

2. Heart failure.
To pump blood against the higher pressure in your vessels, your heart muscle thickens. Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping enough blood to meet your body's needs, which can lead to heart failure.

3. Stroke
Strokes, like heart attacks, are caused by an interruption of blood flow. In the case of stroke, the interruption is in the brain. When blood flow to the brain is interrupted, the areas of the brain depending on that blood are damaged. Sometimes strokes, like heart attacks, happen because a blood vessel becomes clogged and blood cannot flow past the blockage. In other cases, a small blood vessel can actually rupture, and flow is reduced because the blood leaks out of the vessel. High blood pressure increases the risk of both stroke and brain hemmorhage.

4. Kidney Damage
The kidneys are the body’s most important long-term blood pressure regulators. They are also sensitive to the effects of increased blood pressure, which damages the sensitive filters responsible for regulating the amount of fluid in the body. Kidney damage and high blood pressure are a self-reinforcing circle, with high blood pressure causing damage which, in turn, leads to even higher blood pressure. Kidney damage is one of the most dangerous long-term complications of high blood pressure.

6-Blindness
Thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes. This can result in vision loss.High blood pressure can injure the eyes, causing a condition called retinopathy.

7- Mental Problems and Dementia
Uncontrolled chronic high blood pressure is also associated with reduced short-term memory and mental abilities. Isolated systolic hypertension may pose a particular risk for complications in the brain

8-Bone Loss
Hypertension also increases the elimination of calcium in urine, potentially leading to loss of bone mineral density, a significant risk factor for fractures, particularly in elderly women

9-Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction is more common and more severe in men with hypertension and in smokers than it is in the general population

10-Uterine Fibroids
High blood pressure may increase the risk of developing fibroids, according to data from the Nurses’ Health Study. Tracking women for 10 years, the prospective epidemiologic study found that for every 10 mm/Hg increase in diastolic blood pressure, the risk for developing fibroids increased by 8 - 10%

 



Your Comments
Click here to add a comment
There are no comments to display
DeliciousFacebookTwitterStumbleuponGoogle Bookmarks Technorati