How does high blood pressure affect my health?
Blood pressure is created as the blood circulating through your body pushes against blood vessel walls. The amount of pressure depends on factors such as the total amount of blood in circulation, the health of blood vessel walls, and the strength of your heartbeat.
When high blood pressure goes untreated, the ongoing force can damage artery walls, creating rough spots where cholesterol easily accumulates. Over time, more cholesterol, fats, and calcium build up, forming plaque that hardens and narrows the blood vessels, a condition called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can lead to life-threatening problems, including:
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Stroke
- Peripheral artery disease
- Pulmonary embolism
- Kidney failure
If atherosclerosis affects arteries in your brain, it can also contribute to memory problems.
What symptoms develop due to high blood pressure?
High blood pressure is called the silent killer for good reason: It seldom causes symptoms. You can have high blood pressure for years without having a clue, yet all that time, the condition is damaging your health.
If you don’t keep track of your blood pressure, or you don’t have regular preventive checkups, the first sign of high blood pressure may be a heart attack or symptoms caused by peripheral artery disease and kidney failure.
What causes high blood pressure?
High blood pressure typically develops over the years, getting worse in response to lifestyle concerns such as:
- Being overweight or obese
- Lack of exercise
- High-salt diet
- Chronic stress
- Smoking cigarettes
Less commonly, high blood pressure is caused by an underlying health problem such as obstructive sleep apnea or a thyroid disorder.
How is high blood pressure treated?
Since lifestyle factors are major contributors to high blood pressure, the first step in your treatment is a plan to change the factors affecting your blood pressure. If your blood pressure is mildly elevated, lifestyle changes alone may be enough to get it back to normal.
When lifestyle changes don’t help or your blood pressure is dangerously high, Dr. Avaricio prescribes medication. Several types of medications are available, and each one has a different mechanism of action, so Dr. Avaricio chooses the one that’s best for you.
If you haven’t had your blood pressure checked in the last year, or you need ongoing management to keep hypertension under control, call Advanced Cardiac Care or schedule an appointment online.
