Why Is Hypertension Hard on the Heart?

According to the American Heart Association, about 74.5 million people have high blood pressure. Of those, nearly 78 percent were aware of their condition. If it's not controlled, it can lead to serious medical conditions, such as stroke and heart attack. Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about your blood pressure.

Definitions

• Hypertension is defined as high blood pressure.

  Blood pressure is defined as the force of the blood moving through the blood vessels of the veins, arteries and heart. If the blood is unable to move easily through the blood vessels, the aforementioned force will increase.

Symptoms

• There are several symptoms that accompany hypertension, including shortness of breath, tiredness, chest pain and a racing heart beat.

Clogged Arteries

• Normal arteries are flexible and strong. They allow the blood to flow very freely, getting to all parts of the body. If you have high blood pressure, however, the increased pressure can cause a number of problems, including arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis, as well as an aneurysm.

  Arteriosclerosis occurs when the walls of the arteries become hard and stiff. It's also more widely known as a "hardening of the arteries."

  Atherosclerosis is defined as when fats from a person's diet enter the bloodstream and collect of the inner lining of the walls of the arteries, making it difficult for the blood to pass through.

  An aneurysm occurs when the increased force of the blood that is moving through the blood vessels causes the weakened arterial walls to form a bulge. This aneurysm has the potential to burst and cause life-threatening problems.

The Heart

• The heart is responsible for pumping blood to the entire body. Increased pressure to the blood vessels can lead to heart damage, including coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy (enlarged heart) and heart failure. It can also lead to vascular weakness, vascular scarring, an increased risk of blood clots, and tissue and organ damage.

  If you have one high blood pressure reading, that doesn't necessarily mean you have hypertension. Further testing would be needed over time to make a diagnosis.

  If you have hypertension, your heart has to work extra hard to pump the blood to the rest of your body. Because the heart has to work so hard, this in turn can causes a heart attack or stroke. If the hard works hard for long periods of time, it can cause the heart to enlarge. According to the Franklin Institute, a "slightly enlarged heart can function well, but a significantly enlarged heart cannot."

Treatment

• High blood pressure can be controlled with medications and behavior modification, such as changing how you eat and increasing exercise.