Hypertension (hypertension) is the most common disease of the cardiovascular system.
Hypertension is rapidly "rejuvenating", today it is found not only in the elderly, but also in pregnant women and is more common in adolescents.
What is arterial hypertension? The answer to this question can be found in the definition of the condition of this disease.
It is characterized by chronically elevated blood pressure when the highest value (systolic pressure) is more than 140 mm Hg and the lowest (diastolic pressure) is more than 90 mm Hg. At least three measurements should be taken at different times in a calm person.
Optimal blood pressure readings are 120-130 for 80-89 mm Hg, if they are higher, then it is necessary to begin active treatment of hypertension. However, very few people diagnose the disease at an early stage: about 35% of men and 55% of women know about high blood pressure, only half of them are involved in the treatment of arterial hypertension, and only 6% of men and 20% of women-i controls pressures.
The sooner arterial hypertension is detected and controlled, the lower the risk of future complications of hypertension (ischemic disease, atherosclerosis, kidney disease, low testosterone levels, erectile dysfunction).
Hypertension can be one of the causes of impotence in men.
It is useful to note
The main task of the treatment of hypertension is to constantly monitor blood pressure to avoid more serious health problems, because the disease can not be completely cured.
What is dangerous hypertension
With prolonged high blood pressure, the walls of blood vessels thicken and lose their ability to rest, which prevents the normal blood supply, resulting in saturation of tissues and organs with oxygen and other nutrients and a decrease in their functional activity. Let's take a closer look at what dangerous hypertension is:
- Hypertensive crisis- The most common exacerbation of arterial hypertension can occur both in a relatively satisfactory condition of the patient and as a result of psychophysical stress of the patient. A rapidly developing hypertensive crisis dramatically raises blood pressure, causing severe headache, dizziness, tachycardia or arrhythmia, nausea and vomiting. Those who suffer from air dependence at risk are those in the pre-climate period.
- myocardial infarction- can occur within a few minutes, complicated by hypertension, and can be fatal. The main symptom is a long-term pain attack.
- Shoot- Characterized by circulatory disorders in the blood vessels of the brain, cerebral hemorrhage, sudden severe headache, quickly combined with other symptoms coming from the brain: speech disorders, curvature of the mouth, paralysis of a part of the body. If emergency measures are taken and capillary bleeding occurs during hypertension, this process can be reversed.
- angina pectoris- The disease is less transient. Disorders of the heart cause heavy emotional load and overwork. Accompanied by severe dull pain in the chest, feels unwell, can often cause vomiting.
- Heart problem- Chronic condition of the heart muscle, which can not supply oxygen to the body's organs and tissues. It is characterized by a general weakness in which the patient can not tolerate basic physical activity: independent lifting, walking, etc.
- Coronary artery disease- Adequate blood supply to the coronary arteries, resulting in malnutrition of the heart. It is not difficult to avoid the development of coronary heart disease by carefully following the prescribed treatment of hypertension.
- kidney failure- impaired renal function, destruction of neurons, inability to partially remove toxins from the body. Arterial hypertension is the second leading cause of acute or chronic renal failure after diabetes.
- vision impairment- Occurs as a result of disruption of the blood supply to the retina and optic nerve. A sharp rise in blood pressure can cause spasm of the artery that feeds the optic nerve, disrupting the integrity of the retinal vessels. Hypertension is dangerous with pathologies such as retinal or vitreous hemorrhage: the first causes the formation of a black spot in the visual field, the second causes loss of vision in the affected eye.
To prevent any complication of such dangerous hypertension, it is necessary to consult a doctor in a timely manner and conduct an examination that will help determine the stage of development of the disease and determine the necessary treatment.
Degrees of hypertension: classification, forms
Due to the nature of the assessment of one or more criteria, a number of classifications of hypertension are used.
Distinguish such stages of development as origin, leak form, blood pressure level, degree of damage to target organs.
The main task in the diagnosis of arterial hypertension is to differentiate the nature of the disease. There are two major groups here:
- primary or essential hypertension - the main cause of increased blood pressure;
- Secondary or symptomatic arterial hypertension - high blood pressure occurs as a result of diseases of other organs or systems: kidneys, heart, endocrine glands, lungs, thyroid gland.
According to experts
Treatment of symptomatic hypertension cannot and will not begin without treatment of the disease that caused it. In some cases, in addition to eliminating the underlying disease, hypertension also disappears.
Also, before a hypertensive crisis, blood pressure can rise due to improper use of certain medications, neuroses, excessive use of caffeine and other stimulants.
When a diagnosis of essential hypertension is made, doctors usually classify the disease according to the level of blood pressure in order to choose the right tactics for the treatment of essential hypertension. In international practice, there are three degrees of hypertension:
- Hypertension 1 degree- systolic pressure 140−159 mm Hg, diastolic pressure 90−99 mm Hg. Mild forms of the disease, characterized by sharp changes in blood pressure, can both normalize and re-rise.
- Hypertension 2 degrees- systolic 160-179 mm c. s. , diastolic 100-109 mm Hg. In the middle form, the increase in pressure lasts longer, rarely falling to normal values.
- Hypertension 3 degrees- systolic 180 mm Hg above diastolic, diastolic 110 mm Hg above mercury. In severe form, the pressure is stable at the level of pathological indicators, persists with severe complications and is difficult to correct with medication.
Separately, isolated systolic hypertension is isolated, occurring in approximately one-third of older people with arterial hypertension. This form is often associated with age-related loss of elasticity of large vessels, which is accompanied by myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, and left ventricular hypertrophy. Blood pressure: systolic up to 160 mm Hg. and above, diastolic - below 90 mm Hg.
Useful information
When a person's blood pressure rises under the influence of psycho-emotional factors during the measurement of only one medical worker, it is necessary to mention another subgroup - the so-called "white coat hypertension". In such cases, the diagnosis is clarified by re-measurement of blood pressure in a quiet home environment.
In addition to the degree of hypertension, the risk factors that can lead to complications of the cardiovascular system and the stage of the clinical course of the disease are assessed at diagnosis:
- Transistor (initial stage) hypertension. The pressure rise is periodic, returning to normal values; drugs that lower blood pressure are not used.
- labile hypertension. The increase in blood pressure is directly related to the trigger: stress, severe psychological or physical stress. Medication is needed to stabilize blood pressure.
- Stable arterial hypertension. Continuous increase in blood pressure with the use of serious supportive therapy.
- Malignant form. Raising the blood pressure to a very high level, the disease progresses rapidly and leads to the development of serious complications.
- Crisis form. Periodic hypertensive crises are characteristic against the background of normal or slightly elevated pressure.
Assessment of the severity of hypertension and the risk of possible complications is possible only on the basis of a thorough examination: general and biochemical tests, ultrasound examination of the heart and other organs, ECG, fundus examination. A complete examination of a patient with arterial hypertension is usually performed during inpatient treatment.
High blood pressure is a major warning sign of hypertension in both men and women.
Symptoms of hypertension may not last long, and if a person does not use a tonometer regularly, he may already have information about the disease, which has begun to treat its complications.
Often the main symptom of hypertension - no manifestations, except for persistent high blood pressure.
Moreover, the concept of "persistent" or "chronic" is key here, because in some cases (stress, fear or anger) the pressure may increase and then return to normal on its own.
However, few people control their blood pressure, so you should pay attention to the following symptoms that indicate the development of arterial hypertension:
- Headache. Most often it manifests itself in the occipital, parietal region or temples. It can occur both at night and immediately after waking up. As a rule, it increases with mental or physical strength. Sometimes accompanied by swelling of the eyelids and face.
- Dizziness. Sometimes even with little physical effort: cough, dizziness or tilt, a sharp rise.
- Pain in the heart area. It happens not only with emotional stress, but also at rest. Both long-lasting pains, squeezing pains, and short-term, stabbing pains are possible. Do not disappear after taking nitroglycerin.
- Strong heartbeat.
- Noise in the ears.
- Visual impairment: coating, fog, "flying" in front of the eyes.
- Arterial disease: cold limbs, intermittent claudication.
- Swelling of the legs. Indicate impaired renal excretory function or heart failure.
- Shortness of breath. Occurs during both physical exertion and rest.
It is important to know
Hypertensive crisis - an emergency caused by extremely high blood pressure levels, which can also be classified as symptoms of grade 2 and 3 hypertension. At the same time, patients with grade 1 arterial hypertension can achieve complete elimination of the unpleasant symptoms of the disease by strictly following the doctor's recommendations and following a diet for hypertensive patients.
It cannot be said that the symptoms of hypertension are significantly different in men and women, but in fact, men are more susceptible to this disease, especially between the ages of 40-55. This is partly due to differences in physiological structure: men, unlike women, have a correspondingly greater body weight, and the volume of blood circulating in their arteries is significantly higher, which creates favorable conditions for high blood pressure.
On the other hand, women are more responsible for their health and lifestyle. Men are more prone to stressful situations at work, alcohol and cigarettes consumed, but this is no longer a symptom of hypertension, but the causes of its development.
Treatment of hypertension with drugs and folk remedies
Treatment of hypertension, as well as other diseases that are difficult to diagnose and require constant therapy (diabetes, allergies, prostatitis and impotence) should be designed and prescribed only by a specialist. If restrictions on diet, salt intake, alcohol and smoking avoidance, stress avoidance, and other correctable causes of hypertension do not help normalize blood pressure levels, high blood pressure pills will be prescribed.
When treating hypertension with folk remedies, there are usually no side effects. You don't have to run to the pharmacy for expensive medicines and wait in line for a doctor to write another prescription. All you have to do is take time for yourself, change your diet, and learn to manage stress.
Causes of high blood pressure and hypertension
The causes of arterial hypertension are still not fully understood, and both the body's internal systems and external factors play an important role in the development of the disease.
The main causes of hypertension are impaired blood circulation through the arteries, restricting the flow of the heart to the left ventricle. In modern medicine, there is a completely logical explanation for this - structural changes in blood vessels with age, the formation of blood clots and atherosclerotic plaques in their cavities.
If the causes of high blood pressure in symptomatic hypertension are caused by other diseases, in primary hypertension, ie this form is recorded in 85% of cases, it is impossible to determine the exact causes of high blood pressure, it occurs independently.
There are many risk factors that contribute to the steady rise in blood pressure, which are commonly considered to be the causes of hypertension. These include:
- Age, for men over 55, for women over 65. With age, the walls of blood vessels lose their elasticity, which increases their resistance to blood flow, resulting in increased pressure.
- hereditary predisposition.
- Floor. As already mentioned, men suffer more from hypertension.
- Disorders of fat metabolism, obesity (men with a waist circumference of more than 102 cm, women - more than 88 cm).
- Diabetes.
- To smoke. This causes an immediate rise in blood pressure, and smokers with many years of experience are more prone to vascular disease.
- Alcohol abuse. A person who quits drinking loses blood pressure by at least fifteen points.
- Excessive salt intake. Excessive intake of sodium, a key component of table salt, is one of the most important causes of high blood pressure in hypertensive patients: sodium chloride prevents fluid excretion from the body, which increases the patient's already high vascular tone. Remember, on average, a person uses three times more salt than they need, so learn not to add salt to your food.
- Lack of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle.
- Exposure to stress.
- Disorders of cholesterol metabolism.
- Insufficient intake of potassium in the diet.
- Increased levels of adrenaline in the blood.
- Congenital heart defects.
Various kidney diseases, late toxicosis of pregnant women, regular use of certain medications, in some cases, this also applies to oral contraceptives, should be attributed to the causes of secondary hypertension.
The above risk factors can be divided into two major groups:
- Which can be eliminated on their own or with the help of doctors: treatment of obesity, lowering blood cholesterol levels, smoking, alcohol or salt intake, weight loss, etc.
- Avoid the impossible: age and hereditary predisposition.
Therefore, those in the second risk group should carefully monitor their health, control and prevent hypertension. And for anyone who has at least one of the above factors, constantly monitor your blood pressure levels and, of course, lead a normal and active lifestyle.