Pressure should not exceed 139/89 mmHg. Too high pressure can even kill you. Mostly for men in their forties who like to eat fatty foods and eat a lot of s alt. Unfortunately, hypertension is affecting younger and younger people.

What is the risk of hypertension?

  • Untreated for too longhypertensioncauses damage to the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes.
  • Accelerates the development ofatherosclerosis : blood ejected from the heart with greater force hits the walls of arteries and causes them to harden. They lose their elasticity and cholesterol deposits (the so-called atherosclerotic plaques) are more easily deposited in their walls.
  • Increases the risk ofheart attackof the heart: less blood reaches the heart through narrowed arteries. Their hard walls break more easily and clots can form at the cracks. When a clot obstructs the narrowed artery, it causes a heart attack.
  • Threatens with a stroke: either the clot travels to the brain in the carotid artery and stops the blood from reaching the brain cells, or an artery in the brain ruptures due to a sudden pressure surge and causes a stroke (hemorrhagic stroke).
  • It leads to kidney failure, which, due to damage to the renal arterioles, does not cleanse the blood of harmful metabolic products. Whole body poisoning may occur.
  • Damage your eyesight: Blood clots that form in the vessels that supply the eyeballs with blood block the blood supply and the optic nerve is damaged.
  • Shortens Life: An average of 15 years when high hypertension is left untreated and prolonged. This is mainly due to adverse changes in the blood system.

How to treat hypertension

The doctor recommends that you measure your blood pressure regularly for about 4 weeks. Sometimes you have to wear a device for continuous blood pressure monitoring or perform an ECG, blood and urine tests, x-rays and the so-called echo of the heart, ultrasound of the kidneys, examination of the fundus. Mild hypertension does not always require daily medication. Moderate and severe should be reduced with diuretics, possibly the so-called beta-blockers (they slow down the heartbeat), alpha-blockers (dilate blood vessels) or the so-called converting enzyme inhibitors (inhibit the secretion of the enzyme responsible for the increase in pressure in the kidneys). When choosing medications, a cardiologist has at his disposal over 60 preparations.

Learn about home remedies for high blood pressure

Important

Duo: celery and garlic

Both vegetables systematically reduce the level of upper and lower pressure by a few mmHg. A group of American students ate two sticks of celery every day for 2 weeks. Their pressure decreased by 5-10 mmHg. Similar results were obtained by the 3-month diet with a clove of garlic daily. The substances secreted by both plants have a beneficial effect on the blood vessels. Thanks to this, the blood circulates better and the pressure drops.

These modern ones work slowly and usually it is enough to take them once a day to normalize the pressure and get rid of unpleasant symptoms. Unfortunately, the therapy is long-lasting, sometimes it lasts for the rest of your life.

Hypertension symptoms

Very often, there is no evidence that we have them. However, there are symptoms that may suggest this. They are:

  • frequent headaches (after waking up),
  • spots in front of eyes,
  • difficulty falling asleep and waking up at night,
  • excessive tendency to be irritated,
  • palpitations,
  • sweating,
  • tinnitus,
  • shortness of breath,
  • dizziness,
  • feeling exhausted.

Sometimes such symptoms herald completely different diseases. However, we should always consult a doctor.

You must do it

Remember, the child also needs to be measured

According to American and Czech studies, every third teenager between the ages of 14 and 18 has elevated blood pressure. Unfortunately, in Poland, no one measures pressure in children. Neither parents nor doctors. And yet they are exposed to the same risk factors: they eat too much s alty food instead of running around the pitch after the ball, they sit for hours in front of the TV or computer, just like adults experience stress. More and more doctors are of the opinion that teenagers should have their blood pressure checked at least once a year. When it is too high, the pediatrician or family doctor will tell us what to do to bring it back to normal. Usually, it is enough to simply change your eating habits and exercise more. With a slight hypertension, it is enough to change the lifestyle, diet and greater discipline.

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Category:

Cardiology