High blood pressure or hypertension does cause any symptoms. Persistently high blood pressure can cause damage without any indication. When a hypertension crisis happens, the condition reaches its severe stage, which can cause migraines, severe headaches, breathing difficulties, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, blurry vision, dizziness, and anxiety. These are very common problems, which is why most people tend to ignore them.
In general, High blood pressure is very problematic. The person may live their lives normally without being aware that their blood pressure has been consistently high. Because there are no indications, the individual fails to get the treatment on time. When they finally come to know about their underlying condition, it has already caused significant damage. The condition potentiates the risk of heart disease and stroke.
How blood pressure damages health?
Heart damage due to hypertension
Various factors can be responsible for spiking blood pressure. Some factors might cause an acute rise in blood pressure which can lead to chronic hypertension. In a hypertensive individual, the blood may flow through the arteries with high pressure. The force exerted by the blood while flowing through the arteries is too high. This can occur due to the narrowing of the blood vessels.
The blood vessels may narrow owing to several reasons. The narrowing causes an increase in blood pressure and the heart will have to apply extra force to get the blood pumped throughout the circulatory system. This force puts a strain on the heart, which can lead to its damage.
The risk of heart disease increases with time, as the condition becomes chronic. The narrowing of the arteries limits the supply of blood to the heart, which potentiates its risk of coronary heart disease and heart failure. Gradually, hypertension contributes to the weakening of the heart muscles, which leads to the development of chest pain or angina and irregular heart rhythm. Also, it potentiates the individual’s risk of heart attack.
Brain damage due to hypertension
Moreover, Hypertension increases the risk of brain damage by increasing the likelihood of stroke, dementia, and cognitive impairment. In the case of cognitive impairment, hypertension can cause mild symptoms, wherein the individual might find it difficult to perform any given task. This can become worse with time.
During a stroke, the blood vessels of the brain may burst, rupture, or leak due to the lack of blood supply, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain. Lack of nourishment causes the brain cells to die. Sometimes, the clot formation can clog the blood vessels and block the flow of blood to the brain, leading to stroke.
Moreover, dementia can happen due to a lack of blood flow to the brain. Chronic hypertension can lead to clog formation in the arteries, which restricts the blood supply. This affects the individual’s memory, decision-making, judgment, thinking, speech, and behavior.
Arterial damage due to hypertension
Moreover, Hypertension damages the arteries by affecting their elasticity and flexibility. The inner lining or walls of the arteries are delicate, which allows them to supply blood and nutrients to every organ and tissue of the body. These linings get affected when the blood flows through the arteries aggressively.
The pressure exerted by the blood can injure the linings of the blood vessels and cause them to become narrow and hard. This speed up the plaque formation in the passages of the vascular system. Plaque is nothing but fat, which gets accumulated in the linings of the blood vessels. Fat accumulation clogs the vascular passages and hinders the flow of blood through them. Thus, the plaque build-up damages the arterial function and blocks the blood flow.
In addition, hypertension can also potentiate the risk of aneurysm, which is a condition wherein the linings of the artery develop a bulge that can get ruptured, leading to internal bleeding. Moreover, This condition can have life-threatening consequences.
Risk factors of hypertension
- Sodium-rich diet – Excessive salt intake leads to water retention, which increases blood volume, leading to a spike in blood pressure.
- Unhealthy diet – Consuming a diet rich in trans-fat and saturated fat leads to plaque accumulation in the arteries.
- Physical inactivity – Lack of exercise leads to weight gain and this speeds up the clogging and narrowing of arteries, which increases blood pressure.
- Smoking – Harmful chemicals in the smoke contribute to the narrowing and damaging of the arteries, which spikes blood pressure.
- Caffeine – Caffeine can constrict the blood vessels and cause them to become narrow, thereby increasing blood pressure.
Severe damages caused by hypertension
- Severe chest pain or angina
- Heart attack
- Blindness
- Cognitive impairment
- Stroke
- Sudden kidney dysfunction
- Severe breathing troubles due to pulmonary edema
- Complicated pregnancy
Apart from the heart, brain, and arteries, hypertension can also increase the possibility of kidney damage and eyesight damage. Moreover, This is why one must prevent high blood pressure from affecting one’s health. Hypertensive individuals must take their medications and along with that, they must include some lifestyle changes that will help them in managing the condition well.
Lifestyle Factors
For healthy individuals, it is necessary to implement some habits that will reduce their risk of hypertension in the future. Some lifestyle factors like regular exercising, dieting, sleeping on time, limiting the intake of caffeine and alcohol, giving up smoking, etc. will be highly beneficial in eliminating the risk of high blood pressure.
Lastly, even if you feel perfectly healthy and vibrant, you must get a blood pressure checkup done every 2 to 5 years, which will help you in detecting whether you are likely to experience hypertension. This will help reduce the risk of health damage in the future.