High Blood Pressure and Its Devastating Impact on the Heart
Verlyn Ross
High blood pressure and heart disease are very inter-related.
This article explores that relationship. It is important to
understand the synergy between the two. Further, it is important
to understand that we are discussing a serious health condition
here, that it truly may be a matter of life or death.
High blood pressure is sometimes referred to as hypertension. In
fact, the two terms are often used interchangeably and will be in
this article. Sometimes it is easy for a doctor to pinpoint the
exact cause of a patients hypertension but very often, the cause
or causes are not obvious. For that reason, most of the time,
high blood pressure is referred to as essential or primary blood
pressure or hypertension, meaning that the cause is not easy to
detect. There are however many risk factors that can contribute
to a persons potential for developing this disease.
Another category is secondary hypertension which is evidenced in
approximately 10 percent of individuals suffering from high blood
pressure. This is when the problem is easy to pinpoint and is
linked to a particular medical problem such as hormonal
disorders, kidney disease or a variety of other diseases. It can
even be the result of taking particular drugs. Once the problem
is diagnosed and steps are taken to correct it, the patients
hypertension generally normalizes.
High blood pressure is often described as being silent and there
is referring to the fact that there are very often no overt
symptoms of an underlying problem. Unfortunately hypertension is
a very serious health concern that can double or even sometimes
triple a persons chance of developing heart disease, kidney
disease or a stroke. There is only one way to be aware of what
your blood pressure is and that is to have regular checks
performed by your doctor. Some patients will be encouraged to
come in to the doctors office more often than others to have this
monitoring activity.
There are a few risk factors that can increase your chance of
falling victim to hypertension. These risk factors include age,
ethnicity, family history, obesity, diabetes, stress, excessive
drinking and smoking. Blood pressure tends to be lower when you
are young and to rise, as you get older. For example
approximately half of all men and women over the age of 65 suffer
from hypertension. Some ethnic groups seem to be more likely to
develop hypertension than others. Those most at risk include
Aboriginal Peoples (or Inuit), South Asians, Black Canadians and
First Nations. High blood pressure tends to run in families. For
example, if one of your parents has the problem then you have a
one in five chance of developing it. If both your parents do,
then the risk rises to one in three.
Excess pounds seem to have a big impact on the development of
hypertension. This is not so true for those who are only 10 to 15
pounds overweight but it is true for those who are considered
obese. Weight that piles up around the abdominal area seems to be
even worse in terms of the development of high blood pressure.
Those suffering from diabetes are more likely to develop high
blood pressure than members of the general population who do not
suffer from this disease.
Bouts of repetitive stress may play a role in the acquisition of
hypertension although stress is not as large a risk factor as are
some of the others. Certainly, constant stress is believed to
encourage unhealthy lifestyle habits. Drinking heavily puts more
strain on the heart thereby increasing blood pressure. Finally
smoking places a lot of strain on the heart muscle and affects
blood flow and thus tends to be a factor in the onset of high
blood pressure.
It is hoped that the reader has a better understanding of the
relationship between high blood pressure and heart disease and
the high risk factors that are involved. As stated earlier, It
truly could be a matter of life and death for you.
Verlyn Ross owns and operates a website dedicated specifically to providing
health and fitness information. It includes a wealth of free articles in
which you may have an interest. For a great place to get Answers, go here!
http://www.achieve-health-fitness.com
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