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A Brief Guide To Hypertension

Hypertension is a common condition that if left untreated, can have a devastating impact on a persons health. If their blood pressure...

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Also called high blood pressure, hypertension is a common condition that if left untreated, can have a devastating impact on a person's health. If their blood pressure becomes high enough, it can cause problems with the heart, such as a heart attack. This, of course, can have deadly consequences. 

What causes hypertension?

There are two different types of high blood pressure - there is primary hypertension and secondary hypertension.
  • Primary hypertension - there is no real cause to this type of high blood pressure. For most adults, it is something that progresses gradually over time up until the point that it becomes a problem.
  • Secondary hypertension - this is caused by various underlying health conditions. It is more likely to appear all of a sudden rather than building up over time. Some of the health conditions that can cause secondary hypertension include thyroid problems, obstructive sleep apnea, adrenal gland tumors, kidney disease, prescription medications, and illegal drugs. 

What are the symptoms of hypertension?

Most of the time, people with high blood pressure have very few or no symptoms at all. Some of the symptoms that they may experience include nosebleeds, shortness of breath, and headaches.In the vast majority of cases, hypertension is picked up on when undergoing a routine medical examination with a medical doctor. This is why it is important for people to have regular health check ups.When high blood pressure is not picked up on, it can lead to more serious consequences. This includes complications, such as dementia, problems with understanding or memory, metabolic syndrome, damaged blood vessels in your eyes, damaged blood vessels in your kidneys, heart failure, aneurysms, stroke, and heart attack.
  • Heart attack - hypertension can lead to a thickening and hardening of your arteries, potentially causing a heart attack.
  • Aneurysms - high blood pressure may lead to your blood vessels being weakened and aneurysms forming. If any of these rupture, then it can potentially be life threatening.

How is hypertension treated?

Making changes to your lifestyle can have a significant impact on your blood pressure. Specific things that you can do include partaking in regular exercise, drinking less or no alcohol, eating a healthy diet, and losing weight where needed. However, for some people these changes are not quite enough and for this reason you may be recommended to use some certain medications. Medication - exactly what medication is prescribed to you is dependent on your own health and how high your blood pressure is. In most instances, two forms of medication work better than one. However, getting to a point where the medication is successfully controlling your blood pressure is very much a case of trial and error. One of the best medications for treating hypertension is Кардиол.Research is currently being undertaken in the area of ablation of the kidney's sympathetic nerves via radiofrequency and ultrasound as an effective treatment for high blood pressure. This is a great potential treatment option in the future although more robust studies are required in the future.