When the heart pumps blood into the arteries, the blood flows with a force pushing against the walls of the arteries. Blood pressure is the product of the flow of blood times the resistance in the blood vessels. High blood pressure is also called hypertension.
Symptoms
High blood pressure is a silent disease. Most people with high blood pressure don't have any symptoms, so they don't know if they have it unless their blood pressure is checked. The causes of high blood pressure vary. Disorders such as diabetes and high blood cholesterol may contribute to high blood pressure.
In some cases, however, a person can have high blood pressure symptoms. Possible symptoms of high blood pressure include :
· Headache
· Dizziness
· Blurred vision
· Nausea. However, many people don't seek medical care until they have more severe symptoms from the organ damage that long-term (chronic) high blood pressure can cause.
Causes
In the 95% of cases where the exact cause of high blood pressure is unknown, it is called essential hypertension or primary hypertension. Lifestyle, environment, and family history of the condition all play a role in these cases.
In a small percentage of people, this increased pressure is from an underlying problem such as kidney disease or a tumor of the adrenal gland. However, in 90 to 95 percent of all cases, the cause is unclear. That's why it is known as the silent killer; it just creeps up without any warning. Whereas some of the contributing factors are not controllable, others can be quite controllable.
Treatment
The overall goal in treating hypertension is to prevent other health related complications and death from hypertension related complications. Treating and controlling your hypertension can help prevent damage to your heart, brain, kidneys, blood vessels, and eyes. For individuals who don't have other medical or health conditions such as diabetes or heart failure, typically the goal is to lower systolic blood pressure to less than 140 and the diastolic blood pressure to less than 90 ("less than 140 over 90").
There is no cure for primary hypertension, but blood pressure can almost always be lowered with the correct treatment. The goal of treatment is to lower blood pressure to levels that will prevent heart disease and other complications of hypertension that could manifest in adulthood. In secondary hypertension, the disease that is responsible for the hypertension is treated in addition to the hypertension itself. Successful treatment of the underlying disorder may cure the secondary hypertension.
by John Mathew