Hypertension, like Diabetes, is a silent killer. It’s been predicted that by 2025, nearly 1/3 of the world will have high blood pressure of which 75% will be from Asia and Africa. Every 1 among 3 Indians are hypertensive. Don’t you think its time you give this a serious thought?
Age is no factor for hypertension in today’s world. 45% Indians between the age group 25 – 35 feature in the pre-hypertensive category. This is only because of the amount of stress they have in their daily life, not forgetting the fast pace in which most of them move and their lifestyle.
Obesity, Smoking, Alcohol, excessive salt (present in most fast foods), Insomnia and of course genetics are some of the common reasons. Presence of low calcium, magnesium or potassium in your body may also lead hypertension.
The consequences of not being aware of your hypertension can lead to many co-morbidities like Heart Attack, Stroke, kidney failure and vision damage.
Prashanth Hospitals has an exclusive Hypertension Clinic which helps you find your numbers because that’s what ultimately tells you your status.
A simple check of your sugars, kidney profile, cholesterol coupled with counselling can help you combat this silent but deadly disease.
High blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease.
Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.
You can have high blood pressure (hypertension) for years without any symptoms. Even without symptoms, damage to blood vessels and your heart continues and can be detected. Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases your risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke.
Normal : 120 / 80 mm Hg
Ideally, we should all have a blood pressure below 120 over 80 (120/80). This is the ideal blood pressure for people wishing to have good health. At this level, we have a much lower risk of heart disease or stroke. Here 120 is the systolic pressure when the heart beats while pumping blood. 80 is the diastolic pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.
If your blood pressure is extremely high, there may be certain symptoms to look out for, including:
- Severe headache.
- Fatigue or confusion.
- Vision problems.
- Chest pain.
- Difficulty breathing.
- Irregular heartbeat.
- Blood in the urine.
Brain Stroke
Reduced blood supply to the brain can lead to rapid loss of brain function or stroke
Vision Loss
Hypertensive retinopathy (damage of blood vessels in the retina) resulting in loss of vision
Heart Attack or Stroke
High blood pressure can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications
Heart Failure
To pump blood against the higher pressure in your vessels, your heart muscle thickens. Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping enough blood to meet your body’s needs, which can lead to heart failure.
Kidney Failure
Damaged blood vessels in the kidney cannot effectively filter your blood resulting in a dangerous accumulation of fluid and waste.
Modifiable Factors
- Lifestyle
- Physical inactivity
- Salt rich diet/ fatty food
- Cigarette / Alchohol consumption
- Obesity
- Drug Induced
- Sleep Disorder
