Symptoms Associated With High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure, a condition also known as hypertension, is a common medical condition that can cause other serious conditions, including stroke and heart attack. Because people with high blood pressure often have no symptoms, it is often called a silent killer. Some estimates say that one in three American adults has high blood pressure, but about a third of them don't know it. Blood pressure is created by two forces: blood pumping through the arteries and the body's circulatory system, and arteries' resisting the blood flow. The higher a person's blood pressure is, the narrower the arteries are and the more the heart has to pump. A blood pressure above 140/90 mmHg is considered high. Doctors recommend that people have their blood pressure checked at least every two years beginning at age 20.

Symptoms

• Most people experience no signs or symptoms of high blood pressure, even in severe cases when the level is dangerously high. In fact, many people who have a heart attack or stroke as a result of hypertension do not even know they suffer from high blood pressure. In some cases, people in the early stages of hypertension can experience dizzy spells, headaches and nosebleeds.

Diagnosis

• Taking a person's blood pressure is a simple, painless procedure. An inflatable cuff is placed on a person's arm, and the reading is given in two numbers. The systolic, or first, number is the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats. The diastolic, or second, number measures the pressure between heartbeats. Because many factors can affect blood pressure, a doctor will not typically rely on just one reading to make a diagnosis. Usually blood pressure readings will be taken two or three times at separate appointments before a diagnosis is made.

Treatment

• Although many different types of prescription medications are available to treat high blood pressure, lifestyle changes can greatly improve a person's blood pressure. Getting more exercise and eating a healthier diet are two things most doctors will recommend to patients with hypertension. Even patients taking drugs to treat the condition will be helped by adopting a healthier lifestyle. Among the medications available to treat hypertension are drugs classified as beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and renin inhibitors. When those medications do not work to bring blood pressure to a healthier level, other drugs, including alpha-blockers, alpha-beta blockers, vasodilators and central-acting agents, are often prescribed.

Risk Factors

• Many factors contribute to high blood pressure, including many that people can control. Inactivity, obesity, eating too much salt, drinking too much alcohol and having a lot of stress in your life all can contribute to hypertension. Other risk factors include race, with African-Americans more prone to the condition; age; and heredity.

Complications

• If left untreated, high blood pressure can be deadly because it can cause other, more serious medical conditions. Among the illnesses and conditions that can be caused by hypertension are heart attack or heart failure, stroke, kidney damage that can lead to kidney failure, aneurysm, atherosclerosis and vision problems and vision loss.