Hypertension

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a serious problem in the United States, affecting 73 million people, according to the American Heart Association. The disease is known as the "silent killer" because many people do not experience any warning signs, but may have dangerously high blood pressure. Regular visits to your doctor and monitoring of your blood pressure can ensure that the disease is caught before too much damage to your arteries has occurred.

Identification

• When your heart pumps out blood, it does so forcefully, creating pressure in your arteries, the blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart. This force is known as "blood pressure" and when the pressure in your arteries rises to unsafe levels, damage can occur.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of hypertension include vision problems, chest pain, headaches, fatigue, trouble breathing, confusion, bloody urine and irregular heartbeat. These symptoms usually indicate a severe problem and you should be evaluated by a doctor immediately if you experience these symptoms. Some people only experience mild symptoms before being diagnosed and in many cases, there are no symptoms at all.

Diagnosis

• Your blood pressure reading will determine your diagnosis. The first number in the reading is systolic pressure, which measures the pressure in your arteries when they fill with blood from the heart. The second number refers to diastolic pressure, which is the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats. If your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher, you will be diagnosed with high blood pressure. Diagnosis is usually made only if your blood pressure is high on more than one occasion. It is normal for blood pressure to fluctuate and anxiety about your visit to the doctor can cause your blood pressure to rise. If you have diabetes, you can expect to be treated for high blood pressure if your reading is over 130/80, as you already have an increased chance of developing heart disease due to your condition.

Risk Factors

• A family history of heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes can increase your chances of developing hypertension. Other risk factors include being overweight, lack of regular exercise, cigarette smoking, excessive drinking, high salt intake, eating food high in saturated fats and using illegal drugs. Your race may be a factor, as blacks are twice as likely as whites to get high blood pressure.

Treatment

• If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, your doctor will recommend a combination of drugs and lifestyle changes to help lower your blood pressure and prevent damage to the heart, brain and kidneys. Losing weight, reducing salt intake, eating health meals, exercising regularly, quitting smoking and reducing alcohol intake can help lower blood pressure. If you don't have a particularly severe case of hypertension, your doctor may suggest that you try these changes before prescribing medication.

  Many people who have hypertension do need medication. Common drugs used to treat the disease include calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). Although each medicine works a little differently, they all help to lower blood pressure to a safe level. It may take a little while to find the correct dosage, but after the most effective dosage has been determined, you will most likely only need to see your doctor every 3 to 6 months, depending on the severity of your condition.