Hypertension and Heart
By: Robert NamTotal Views: 356, Word Count: 694,
Hypertension is one of the deadly diseases, which is very common in elder people. In medical term, hypertension is known as a “silent killer”. It is also the term used to describe a high blood pressure. In old age, high blood pressure damages the heart and kidney as well. It increases the risk of a stroke, heart attack, and aneurysm.
Heart pumps blood with the use of arteries, veins, and capillaries. The moving blood in body is pushed against the arterial walls. This force is measured and known as blood pressure. High blood pressure usually occurs due to tightening of small arteries called ‘arterioles.’ Arteriole regulates the blood flow.
Hypertension is very dangerous because it tends heart to work extra hard. When heart is forced to work extra hard for an extended period, it gets enlarged. A slightly enlarged heart can work efficiently but a more enlarged heart cannot.
Hypertension affects your health in four major ways:
- Hardening of arteries
Pressure inside your arteries can tend the muscles that line the walls to thicken. Thickening of muscles can cause arteries to get narrow. A heart attack occurs, when the blood clot blocks the flow of your blood to the heart or brain.
- Enlarging the heart
High blood pressure puts extra strain on heart. Due to this, your heart grows bigger. The bigger the heart, less efficiently it can work. The result of which, you feel weak, tired, and not able to perform your daily activities well.
- Damage of kidney
Prolonged high blood pressure can damage your kidney seriously. It occurs because arteries supply the affected blood to kidney.
- Damage of eye
High blood pressure can cause tiny capillaries in the retina of your eye to bleed, if you have diabetes too. This process is known as retinopathy, which can lead to blindness.
Causes for Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
Many factors affect the blood pressure such as
- Amount of water and salt in take in your body
- Condition of your nervous system, blood vessels and kidneys
- Levels of different body hormones
- Smoking , obesity and diabetes
- Family history of high blood pressure
- Drinking more alcohol
- More use of cocaine
- Eating high saturated fats
- Eating a diet with high salt or sodium
- Anxiety and stress
Symptoms of Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Symptoms that may occur in some cases are
- Chest or head pain
- Ear noise
- Irregular beating of heart
- Nose bleeding
- Tiredness and confusion
- Change in vision
Treatment for High Blood Pressure/Hypertension
The first step involved is change in lifestyle, especially people with pre hypertension.
· Eat food with low fat and low salt
· Do not be over-weight. Lose weight, if needed.
· Perform exercise regularly.
· Follow healthy diet in daily routine. Eat a diet rich in low- fat dairy products, fruits and vegetables.
· Learn to work at stress level too. Be calm and relax.
· Avoid smoking.
· Avoid drinks.
Medicines to Reduce Your High Blood Pressure/Hypertension
Medicine is the primary tool, which is used to fight against this disease. Particularly hypertension occurs in old age people. Therefore, the medical therapy should be gentle, starting low and going slow with care to avoid hypotension (low blood pressure). There are many medicines, which can be used to treat high blood pressure level.
· Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors
· Angiotensin receptor blockers
· Beta-Blockers
· Calcium channel blockers
· Central alpha agonist
· Diuretics
· Vasodilators
The above information will help you to know about hypertension and heart. A proper change in current lifestyle will help you to cure your disease of hypertension.
About the Author
Dr. Robert Nam is a well known heart specialist and has done postgraduate training in cardiology at the national heart hospital, the London chest hospital and UCL hospital, London. He was also engaged in research at the national heart and lung institute. Nowadays he is working as a consultant cardiologist at UCL hospital, London.
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