What Are Hypertension And Hypertensive Crisis & How To Avoid Them?
Introduction
Hypertension is a condition where blood pressure is higher than normal. This increases your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. There are various causes of hypertension such as genetics and lifestyle changes. If left untreated, it can lead to hypertensive crisis which requires immediate medical intervention.
What Is Hypertension?
Hypertension is a condition in which the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high. It’s also called high blood pressure.
Hypertension can lead to stroke, heart disease and kidney failure. Hypertensive crisis is a medical emergency that occurs when your blood pressure rises rapidly and dangerously, causing damage to your body’s organs. Symptoms include headache, dizziness and blurred vision; if you experience these signs or any others that concern you, seek immediate medical attention.
Causes Of Hypertension
Hypertension is considered to be the most common chronic condition in the world. The causes of hypertension include:
- Obesity: Obesity causes a lot of stress on your body, since you need to support the excess weight. This can result in high blood pressure as well as other health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.
- Smoking: Smoking has been linked to many diseases including stroke and cancer but it also increases your risk for developing high blood pressure because it damages your arteries that carry blood throughout your body.
- High Blood Pressure (HBP): If you have high blood pressure then there is an increased risk for developing cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease or stroke which can cause death or disability if left untreated.
Symptoms Of Hypertension
- Headache
- Dizziness/lightheadedness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Blurred vision, especially in the morning or after sleeping.
- Chest pain (may be worse when lying down). This can also be a sign of heart disease, angina or a heart attack. Seek medical attention immediately if you have chest pain that worsens with activity or while you are resting.
- Shortness of breath (feeling as though you cannot get enough air) when doing daily activities like dressing, bathing or grooming yourself. This can also be a sign of congestive heart failure (CHF), pulmonary edema and other serious conditions such as anemia (low red blood cell count). Seek medical attention immediately if your shortness of breath does not improve despite treatment for your high blood pressure and other contributing factors such as fluid retention caused by certain medications.* Palpitations: Feeling like your heart is beating too fast, too slow or skipping beats.* Cold hands and feet.* Fatigue.* Sleep disturbance including insomnia and waking up during the night due to shortness of breath; sudden awakenings with panic attacks; nightmares about dying because it feels like you’re suffocating all night long; difficulty falling asleep due to anxiety about getting sick again soon after being discharged home from the hospital; feeling tired all day long even though you got enough sleep last night..
How To Prevent And Treat Hypertension?
- Eat healthy, maintain a healthy weight.
- Exercise regularly to keep your blood pressure in check.
- Avoid smoking or tobacco products like cigars and hookahs.
- Get your blood pressure checked regularly by a trained healthcare professional.
- Take medications as prescribed by your doctor and follow diet guidelines.
- See a doctor if you think that you have high blood pressure or if you suspect cardiovascular disease (CVD).
- Follow stress management techniques such as yoga, meditation, exercise etcetera to manage stress levels and avoid hypertension crisis.
What Is Hypertensive Crisis?
Hypertensive crisis is a sudden increase in blood pressure (BP). It is a medical emergency that can lead to serious health problems including stroke and heart attack. Hypertensive crisis can happen to anyone but it’s more common in people with high blood pressure.
Causes Of Hypertensive Crisis
Hypertensive crisis is a sudden increase in blood pressure. It is a life-threatening condition and should not be taken lightly. This condition can be caused by a number of factors, including stress and drugs, alcohol, changes in diet and so on.
All these factors can cause the blood vessels to contract and make the heart beat faster. This causes the blood pressure to rise suddenly which can lead to hypertensive crisis in severe cases.
Symptoms Of Hypertensive Crisis
The symptoms of Hypertensive Crisis are:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Nausea or vomiting
- Blurred vision, difficulty in focusing the eyes and double vision. The patient may also complain of pain in the temples. This is usually caused by high blood pressure on the optic nerve, which carries images from the retina to your brain. If not treated early enough, this can lead to permanent loss of vision.
- Weakness and fatigue (fatigue) Your body doesn’t have enough energy for normal activities like walking up stairs or going about your daily routine at work or school. You may even have trouble staying awake during an activity that would normally be easy for you.
How To Treat A Hypertensive Crisis?
- When you have a hypertensive crisis, take your medicine.
- Drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet to bring down the blood pressure.
- Sleep for at least seven hours every night to avoid over-anxiety and stress that may cause hypertension in the first place.
Get your blood pressure checked regularly to avoid hypertension and hypertensive crisis.
Treating hypertension is important because it can lead to serious health problems. Hypertensive crisis is one of the serious complications that may arise from untreated hypertension.
- Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg).
- It can be done by using a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope, which is placed on top of the patient’s upper arm at heart level.
- The patient should lie down, sit up or stand with feet flat on the floor during measurement of blood pressure.
- A person having a high blood pressure reading often has no symptoms except for headaches and dizziness if their numbers are very high (200/120 mmHg or above).
Conclusion
Now you know what is hypertension, hypertensive crisis and how to avoid them.