High blood pressure, also called hypertension, comes with no symptoms that anyone can perceive as warning signs. For this reason, it is wise to have your blood pressure checked routinely, as high blood pressure is easily detectable through an examination. In the vast majority of instances of high blood pressure, there is no identifiable reason for it, while other conditions can result in high blood pressure, known as secondary hypertension. Serious health problems can result from high blood pressure, so keeping it under control once discovered is vital.
Potential
Blood pressure is defined as the force exerted by a person's blood as it pushes against the walls of the arteries as it passes through them. The higher this pressure is on the walls, the higher a person's blood pressure reading will be. High blood pressure is dangerous because it can lead to any number of medical conditions, with some of them life-threatening. It can damage the arteries and cause them to become thick and hard, which can precipitate a stroke or heart attack. High blood pressure can make blood vessels weaken and make an aneurysm possible, another potentially deadly situation. Heart failure, kidney failure and trouble remembering things are some of the other problems brought about by high blood pressure, with not a single warning sign to alert a person to what is happening.
Identification
While almost everyone has had their blood pressure taken at one time or another, many people have no idea what the readings actually mean. The inflatable cuff that is put on a person's arm is called a sphygmomanometer. It has a pressure reading gauge attached to it that measures blood pressures in millimeters of mercury. As the cuff is blown up with air, it squeezes the arm and for a moment halts blood flow in an artery. As the air is released, a trained medical person listens with a stethoscope to the sound of the blood going back through the artery. At this point the pressure is measured by the gauge. This pressure is called the systolic pressure. The last sound signifies the diastolic pressure, as the remainder of the air is released and the pressure is determined by the mercury gauge. In essence, the systolic pressure is measuring the pressure in the arteries when the heart is beating while the diastolic pressure is that pressure in the blood vessels in between heartbeats. Blood pressure readings are the only legitimate warning sign of high blood pressure.
Significance
In 2003, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute issued strict guidelines redefining the meaning of blood pressure readings. A normal blood pressure reading is one in which the systolic and diastolic numbers, one on top of the other respectively, are below 120/80 mm of mercury. A person is said to have pre-hypertension when the systolic figure is between 120 and 139 or the diastolic number is between 80 and 89. Stage 1 hypertension exists when the systolic ranges from 140 to 159 or the diastolic between 90 and 99. Stage 2 hypertension is a systolic greater than 160 or a diastolic reading higher than 100.
Time Frame
Hypertension is a common ailment, with over 50 million people older than the age of 6 in the United States having some form of it. High blood pressure is more prevalent in men than women and in those over the age of 55 as opposed to younger people. Greater than half of everyone in the U.S. older than 65 have a type of high blood pressure and African-Americans are more at risk from it than whites. After the age of 50, the systolic reading has even greater importance attached to it since it can signify a condition called isolated systolic hypertension, where the pressure is high when the heart is beating.
Prevention/Solution
People with extremely high blood pressure will exhibit almost no warning signs, with the only ones that could possibly be noticed being a mild headache, a dizzy spell or an occasional nosebleed. However, since these are common ailments, it would be difficult at best to make the connection that they are warning signs of high blood pressure. The only way for a person to really know if they have high blood pressure is to have their blood pressure taken by medical personnel. Once high blood pressure has been established as a problem, there are many steps that can be taken. These include reducing salt and fat in the diet, losing weight, exercising regularly, quitting smoking and drinking alcohol and taking various drugs to treat hypertension.
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