Think of the tap at your wash-basin. You could turn the pressure up or down. Hypertension is when the pressure with which blood is flowing in your blood vessels(specifically arteries) is too high. It is too high because it is causing damage to your tissues. The values at which this starts is 140/90 mmHg. I40 mmHg is the pressure when the heart is pumping with greatest force, this is called the systolic blood pressure. It lasts for one-third of the pump-cycle( heart cycle). The 90 mmHg is the pressure when the heart is fully relaxed and filling up for the next 'stroke action'. This lasts for two-third of the pump(heart) cycle. So the blood vessels are exposed for twice as long to the lower value(diastolic) than the higher value(systolic). This means that while both values are important the lower value is very important.
What causes hypertension?
There are two types of hypertension: A type where the cause is not known and a type where the cause is known. 9 out of 10 people suffer from the first type, where the cause is not known. These things are known about it:
1. If a kidney is taken from a person who has this type of hypertension and transplanted to a person who does not the recipient will develop hypertension.
3. It is more common as people get older.
4. Reducing salt intake or removing salt from the body reduces the pressure.
Exercise and anxiety can cause the blood pressure to rise. If you are not hypertensive when you rest, like when asleep, the pressure will become normal. If you are hypertensive your blood pressure is high even when you are asleep or awake, anxious or relaxed, at rest or active.
How does hypertension happen?
Just like you adjust the pressure of the tap in your wash-basin by narrowing or widening the channel through which flows so does the body. The arteries branch successively into smaller branches. The penultimate branch, just before the smallest branch called capillaries, are used to control blood pressure by narrowing or widening them. They are called arterrioles. This can be done within seconds.
The volume of blood pumped with each stroke of the heart is the second factor determining the pressure with which blood flows in arteries. This too can be adjusted very quickly.
A slower way in which hypertension bulids up is by the body retaining salt. With more salt retained the body retains water. This increases the volume contained in the pipes: the circulation, the heart fills more since it is part of this system that is completely sealed(closed) and pumps more blood with each stroke causing the pressure to increase.
What will you feel when you have hypertension?
Maybe something, maybe nothing. Hypertension has been called a silent killer. You could feel headaches, you may feel tense or not sleeping as well as you used to. Or you may feel the effects of it having damaged tissues or being in the process of damaging tissues when it is extremely high.
What are the damages done to tissues and how do they show?
1, The brain: Strokes, dementia by causing several small strokes so that in all a large amount of brain tissue is damaged. Very high pressure can cause the person to be confused and talk irrationally or even go into coma.
2.The Heart: Blocked heart arteries. Angina. Manifesting as chest pain usually going up the left side of the neck and the left arm. Brought on by exercise and relieved by rest. It may not be relieved by rest-unstable angina. The blockage could be so bad that it causes heart muscle to die. This is the heart attack or myocardial infarction.
3.The Kidneys. Hypertension damages the kidneys. First the patient just leaks protein in urine. Eventually the kidney is severely damaged shrinking in size. The capacity greatly reduced and inadequate. This is kidney failure, the long running type. If the pressure is extremely high the kidneys can be damaged very rapidly to produce a rapidly developing kidney failure.
4. The Arteries. The high pressures make their walls to thicken and become flaky and easy to burst. Fatty substance is deposited in the interior. Thus the vessel may become too narrow. In the leg this may cause pain when walking that is relieved by rest. It is called intermittent claudication..
5.The Eyes. The hypertension causes deposits on the sensitive layer of the eye.
6. Pregnancy: Hypertension makes a pregnant woman more likely to develop a condition called pre-eclampsia were there is hypertension, abnormal kidney function and brain affectation. The woman is prone to convulsion if not handled properly and may die. The placenta may be damaged by the high pressure, suffering small strokes and reducing the weight gain of the baby.
The Tests:
1. Blood pressure measurement. Serially.
2 Kidney function tests.
3. Serum Cholesterol.
4. Complete blood count.
5.Chest X-ray.
6.Electrocardiogram.
The Treatment.
1. Diet: Reduce salt intake.
2. Exercise. May be limited by the presence of complications: Angina, claudication heart failure. kidney failure.
3. Calm. Avoidance of emotional extremes.
4. Drugs.
Hypertension is not curable so it is chronic illness. The care for it requires periodical hospital visits where progress is assessed, including the patient's report of the state of her well being where she recounts any new complaints or side-effects of drugs. Her blood pressure will be taken and her treatment plan reviewed. watching out for complications is a continuous element of the follow up.
The other Ten Per Cent.
The curable causes of hypertension include renal artery stenosis, coactation of the aorta, a tumor that produces -adrenaline-like substances called phaeochromocytoma, Cushings syndrome, polycystic ovarian disease, and hyperthyroidism.
What causes hypertension?
There are two types of hypertension: A type where the cause is not known and a type where the cause is known. 9 out of 10 people suffer from the first type, where the cause is not known. These things are known about it:
1. If a kidney is taken from a person who has this type of hypertension and transplanted to a person who does not the recipient will develop hypertension.
3. It is more common as people get older.
4. Reducing salt intake or removing salt from the body reduces the pressure.
Exercise and anxiety can cause the blood pressure to rise. If you are not hypertensive when you rest, like when asleep, the pressure will become normal. If you are hypertensive your blood pressure is high even when you are asleep or awake, anxious or relaxed, at rest or active.
How does hypertension happen?
Just like you adjust the pressure of the tap in your wash-basin by narrowing or widening the channel through which flows so does the body. The arteries branch successively into smaller branches. The penultimate branch, just before the smallest branch called capillaries, are used to control blood pressure by narrowing or widening them. They are called arterrioles. This can be done within seconds.
The volume of blood pumped with each stroke of the heart is the second factor determining the pressure with which blood flows in arteries. This too can be adjusted very quickly.
A slower way in which hypertension bulids up is by the body retaining salt. With more salt retained the body retains water. This increases the volume contained in the pipes: the circulation, the heart fills more since it is part of this system that is completely sealed(closed) and pumps more blood with each stroke causing the pressure to increase.
What will you feel when you have hypertension?
Maybe something, maybe nothing. Hypertension has been called a silent killer. You could feel headaches, you may feel tense or not sleeping as well as you used to. Or you may feel the effects of it having damaged tissues or being in the process of damaging tissues when it is extremely high.
What are the damages done to tissues and how do they show?
1, The brain: Strokes, dementia by causing several small strokes so that in all a large amount of brain tissue is damaged. Very high pressure can cause the person to be confused and talk irrationally or even go into coma.
2.The Heart: Blocked heart arteries. Angina. Manifesting as chest pain usually going up the left side of the neck and the left arm. Brought on by exercise and relieved by rest. It may not be relieved by rest-unstable angina. The blockage could be so bad that it causes heart muscle to die. This is the heart attack or myocardial infarction.
3.The Kidneys. Hypertension damages the kidneys. First the patient just leaks protein in urine. Eventually the kidney is severely damaged shrinking in size. The capacity greatly reduced and inadequate. This is kidney failure, the long running type. If the pressure is extremely high the kidneys can be damaged very rapidly to produce a rapidly developing kidney failure.
4. The Arteries. The high pressures make their walls to thicken and become flaky and easy to burst. Fatty substance is deposited in the interior. Thus the vessel may become too narrow. In the leg this may cause pain when walking that is relieved by rest. It is called intermittent claudication..
5.The Eyes. The hypertension causes deposits on the sensitive layer of the eye.
6. Pregnancy: Hypertension makes a pregnant woman more likely to develop a condition called pre-eclampsia were there is hypertension, abnormal kidney function and brain affectation. The woman is prone to convulsion if not handled properly and may die. The placenta may be damaged by the high pressure, suffering small strokes and reducing the weight gain of the baby.
The Tests:
1. Blood pressure measurement. Serially.
2 Kidney function tests.
3. Serum Cholesterol.
4. Complete blood count.
5.Chest X-ray.
6.Electrocardiogram.
The Treatment.
1. Diet: Reduce salt intake.
2. Exercise. May be limited by the presence of complications: Angina, claudication heart failure. kidney failure.
3. Calm. Avoidance of emotional extremes.
4. Drugs.
Hypertension is not curable so it is chronic illness. The care for it requires periodical hospital visits where progress is assessed, including the patient's report of the state of her well being where she recounts any new complaints or side-effects of drugs. Her blood pressure will be taken and her treatment plan reviewed. watching out for complications is a continuous element of the follow up.
The other Ten Per Cent.
The curable causes of hypertension include renal artery stenosis, coactation of the aorta, a tumor that produces -adrenaline-like substances called phaeochromocytoma, Cushings syndrome, polycystic ovarian disease, and hyperthyroidism.
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