Hypertension is the medical terminology for a condition commonly known as high blood pressure. Hypertension is dangerous because it can result in such problems as heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease. Hypertension comes with no outward symptoms and comes in a variety of types, from primary hypertension to a rarely seen form of the disease called malignant hypertension.
Significance
The force of an individual's blood pushing through and against the blood vessels as it passes through is what blood pressure actually is. High blood pressure can be quite problematic since it can lead to arterial damage which in the end can make a heart attack or stroke a distinct possibility. There are no warning signs that accompany high blood pressure, making it important to always have blood pressure checked periodically. A blood pressure reading consists of two numbers, both representing the pressure in the arteries measured in millimeters of mercury. The top number is called the systolic, which measures blood pressure as the heart is beating while the diastolic is the measurement of the force of blood pressure in between heart beats. The higher the number is the higher the blood pressure of the person.
Identification
Primary hypertension is the single most predominant type of the condition, responsible for more than 90% of all cases of high blood pressure. There is no one specific reason for it, but many factors come into play in causing a high blood pressure reading consistently enough for a person to be diagnosed with primary hypertension. Diet, smoking, family history, obesity, stress, and race all play a part in a person developing primary hypertension, also known as essential hypertension.
Effects
Secondary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure that is brought about by outside influences. Some of these are damage to the kidneys or kidneys that are somewhat impaired. Tumors and hyperactivity of the adrenal and thyroid glands can result in secondary hypertension and pregnant woman will experience high blood pressure in many instances as their baby develops. Certain medications and recreational drugs can cause this type of hypertension. Cocaine, for example, raises blood pressure significantly. Some heart conditions also lead to secondary hypertension, which tends to come on a person quickly and has higher blood pressure readings than the primary form.
Types
Malignant hypertension is a very serious from that will lead to organ damage in short order if left untreated. It will kill a person within a 5 year time span if is not attended to, with heart failure, strokes, and kidney failure as the cause due to the effects of the hypertension. This type of hypertension can be successfully treated and reversed so it is now a very rare form. Isolated systolic hypertension is a type in which the systolic reading- as the heart is beating- registers above 160 millimeters of mercury but the diastolic number is below 90. It occurs usually in older patients and is from the ravages of time which make the arteries stiff and less elastic.
Considerations
A strange type of hypertension is known as white coat hypertension. It gets its name from the white lab coats many doctors and medical personnel wear as they examine patients. In this form of high blood pressure the patient becomes anxious when they are being examined and as a result their blood pressure numbers are somewhat skewed. Sometimes a person needs to wears an ambulatory blood pressure monitor in a normal setting for as long as a 24-hour period to get a true reading.
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