Hypertension

High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. Hypertension occurs when an individual’s blood pressure is highly elevated. High blood pressure is often misunderstood as excessive emotional tension, though over anxiety and stress definitely enact as a catalyst to high blood pressure. 

Generally high blood pressure can be marked either as primary or as secondary. Primary hypertension refers that no medical reason is there behind the hypertension while secondary hypertension means that it is caused by another problems with heart, kidney or liver. It is believed that 5% people, who are suffering from hypertension, have secondary hypertension. It means that the persons are affected by high blood pressure, which is caused by a specific disorder in any of their body organs like the kidney, adrenal gland, aortic artery etc or blood vessels. 

Hypertension is mainly caused by:

• Obesity
• Lack of exercise
• Over stress
• Excessive caffeine alcohol consumption
• Sodium-rich foods
• Excessive use of aspirin or birth control steroids
• Diseases in the other body parts like kidney
• High salt intake
• Coffee intake
• Smoking
• The symptoms of high blood pressure are:
• Severe headaches
• Frequent confusion
• Dizziness or nausea
• Swelling of optic discs 

When the blood pressure is below 120/80, it is considered as normal while blood pressure between 120/80 and 139/89 is called ‘pre-hypertension’ and a blood pressure of 140/90 or above is considered high.

Borderline of high blood pressure is recognized when one’s blood pressure goes higher than 140/90 mm Hg. High blood pressure or hypertension is generally measured by a small, portable instrument, called a blood pressure cuff or sphygmomanometer, consisting of an air pump, a pressure gauge, and a rubber cuff, and the measuring unit is called millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The cuff is wrapped around the upper part of the arm and puffed up with an air pump to a pressure that can block the flow of blood in the main artery, namely brachial artery, which goes through the arm. The arm is placed extended at one side of the body at the level of the heart, and then the pressure of the cuff as well as artery gradually gets released. When the pressure in the cuff starts getting weaker, the doctor listens to the artery at the front of the elbow, with a stethoscope. The pressure level, at which the doctor hears a pulsation from the artery first, is the systolic pressure as the top number and as the cuff pressure decreases even further, the pressure at which the pulsation finally stops is the diastolic pressure or the bottom number.

The prime goal of treating hypertension is to bring the blood pressure down to 140/85. There are anti-hypertensive medications available, including ACE inhibitors, ARB drugs, beta-blockers, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, alpha-blockers, and peripheral vasodilators to treat hypertension. These medications can be used either alone or in combination.

High blood pressure is often called the silent killer, as often the symptoms remain hidden even for decades. And when hypertension damages some important organs, it gets noticed. So regular screening is important to diagnose hypertension as well as proper treatment and control can lower the risk of strokes, heart attacks or kidney failure.