Hypertension High Blood Pressure HBP

Hypertension - High Blood Pressure-The - Silent Killer

High Blood Pressure is a silent, mysterious killer: silent because it has no characteristics, mysterious because in more than 90% of cases the cause is not known.

MISCONCEPTS
Most of us have had our bp taken and are familiar with the procedure used and the familiar cuff. Yet with all the awareness of the procedure, blood pressure is something of an unknown to the general public. Only 13% of the population and 18% of people with HBP knows that High Blood Pressure is the major cause of heart problems.

SYMPTOMS
HBP often goes undetected because most victims don't feel sick or have pain and othe symptoms. Symptoms do not usually develop until the disease is advanced. Another reason is too many of us do not see a Doctor for regular checkups.

Headache
When symptoms are present the most common complaint is a headache which occurs most frequently in the morning and disappears as the day wears on. The pain may be in any part of the head but most often is in the back. It may be no more than a feeling of stiffness or tightening and may less often also be an excruciating, throbbing pain.

Fatigue and Diziness
Fatigue is the next most often complaint with irritability and nervousness. Diziness is another complaint with feelings of vertigo and faintness. Some hypertensives develop frequent nosebleeds that persist longer than ordinary nosebleed. Chest heaviness may be a symptom. Pressure develops in the chest because the heart cannot pump out as much blood as it is receiving and fluid backs up in the lungs.

Pain
There may be chest pain and shortness of breath. Some people are plagued by pains in the arms, legs, shoulder blades,and back which disappear when your blood pressure is brought under control. These symptoms are common to other ailments and by no means indicate hypertension exclusively. Let your DOCTOR sort them out.

TREAMENT DROP-OUTS
Several reason why people do not remain on treatment are:

they feel better and do not continue to see Doctor and take medications, think when Doctor says blood pressure is controlled thinks that means it is normal, lacks motivation to continue, lacks knowledge of condition and/or doesn't like the side effect of treatment.

But none of them are very good reasons to not see your Doctor and get appropriate treatment.

OUTLOOK

Hypertension is a controllable illness with appropriate diet and medication. Failure to treat can lead to heart attacks and strokes, It may lead to a weakened vessel that can rupture causing excessive hemmorage and possible paralysis.

THE CIRCUIT

The first thrust of blood goes into the aorta, the main blood channel leading from the heart. The aorta sends branhes into the head, trunk, arms, legs and the branches divide into smaller and smaller vessels until the network tapers off into tiny vessels. These are caled arterioles and capillaries. This is natures way of insuring that every blood cell is exposed to the tissues of the body. Blood is returned to the heart through the veins, beginning with the venules. The veins join again and again, emptying into larger channels until they finally unite in two key vessels, the upper and lower vena cava, which empty into the collecting reservoir in the upper right chamber of the heart. From the right side of the heart the blood is pumped to lungs, where it picks up a fresh supply of oxygen and eliminates carbon dioxide. Then it flows to the left side of the heart, where the keft ventricle drives it out again for another trip through the body.

The whole system has been compared to the cooling apparatus of an automobile, in which the water pump (heart) forces water (blood) past the moving parts to remove heat, then to the radiator (lungs) to cool the water and back to the pump to repeat the cycle. The water must be kept under pressure by the water pump. Blood pressure, then, is the force exerted by blood against walls of the vessels that carry it. When the heart contract, the pressure is increased. When the heart relaxes, the pressure is decreased.

Blood pressure reading are recorded by your Doctor as 120/80 or systolic 120 (pressure measurement of the beating heart) over 80 diastolic (pressure when the heart is at rest between contractions).

*Information contained herein is intended for general information only and is not intented to replace your Doctor, Pharmacist or Health Care Provider*

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