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| HBP |
Did you know that you may be prone to or already have high blood pressure (HBP) also called hypertension since too many adults have it? Statistically, one in three adults has HBP, and those who leave it uncontrolled mostly end up with severe health complications.
One of the most troubling facts about hypertension
is that it’s “a silent killer when left
untreated” and only becomes symptomatic “if
the pressure is very high. It is important to always monitor your blood
pressure and take any medications prescribed, whether you feel symptoms or
not,” says Jason McKnight, MD, MS, clinical assistant professor at the
Texas A&M College of Medicine.
How does high
blood pressure impact the following important parts of the body: the heart, kidneys,
brain and eyes?
IMPACT ON
THE HEART
If you have hypertension, your heart can become enlarged.
“The higher the blood pressure, the
harder the heart works,” and “The
harder the heart works, the bigger the heart muscle gets.” If you want to
prevent having congestive heart failure, avoid developing an enlarged heart.
Furthermore, the harder the heart works, the more
blood it needs. But always clear blockages in the blood vessels that supply your
heart, or coronary arteries to avoid a heart attack.
If these vessels balloon out, they can lead to an
aneurysm within the aorta, but if they rupture, it can be fatal. If the pressure
on the wall is high, the wall may eventually split in half and cause an aortic
dissection which in many circumstances requires surgical repair.
IMPACT ON
THE KIDNEYS
Kidneys filter excess fluid and waste from the
blood. This means that kidneys use an understandably good amount of blood
vessels to go through the filtering process. According to McKnight “long-standing hypertension can eventually
lead to renal failure, which sometimes requires dialysis to stay alive.”
With time, HBP can weaken or harden the vessels and arteries around the
kidneys, preventing the kidneys from getting sufficient blood.
IMPACT ON
THE BRAIN
HBP symptoms can include a major headache, a
stroke, seizures and even death. It can increase your blood pressure to the
point of a brain artery rupture, leading to an intracerebral hemorrhage (a
life-threatening stroke that happens due to bleeding within the brain tissue)
Research also attributes hypertension to vascular
dementia (caused by several long-term small strokes) Dementia is a gradual and long-lasting
loss of brain function which usually affects memory, thinking, judgment,
language, and behavior.
IMPACT ON
THE EYES
When you go to your ophthalmologist, your blood
pressure usually gets checked. Do you know why? It’s because they can find
clues about your blood pressure by looking at the blood vessels in your eyes.
That part of the eye that sees things (the
retina) is composed of blood vessels running through it, and high blood
pressure does change the way these blood vessels function. If hypertension is
left uncontrolled, the result can be glaucoma, blindness, and macular
degeneration.
Risk Factors
One important thing you should know is that most
cases of HBP are called essential hypertension because they have no major
cause. This means the causes are mostly genetic. Also, people with pre-existing
issues like kidney disease, hormonal issues, and those experiencing effects of
certain medications such as decongestants for allergies or colds are more
likely to suffer from HBP.
Prevention
Make sure you embrace a healthy diet and active
lifestyle to decrease your risk of high blood pressure. If controlling it is
failing, consult your health care provider early on to suggest medications or another
therapy that can work for you.
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